Pokemon: The New Generation
by Celynata
Summary: A new generation of Pokemon trainers has formed in Kanto. Two young trainers, Ivy and Jay, begin a journey of challenges and dangers they must face. Meanwhile, the newest gym leader of Viridian City, Aria, struggles through her new life after losing her closest companion, Arcanine, and her title as a Champion. Will they succeed in their new paths? Or fall to their challenges?
1. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

**The Characters:**

**Aria Giovanni** – The 17 year old daughter of the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni, she is the former Champion of the Indigo League. She is now the Gym Leader of the Viridian City Gym. She's best friends with Morty of the Ecruteak Gym since they had been traveling partners when they were younger. She is also good friends with Ash Ketchum and his former or still traveling companions Brock, Misty, May, and Max. She wears a necklace which has an empty pokeball at the end of it. It was the Pokeball that held her first Pokemon, Arcanine, before it died.

_Note: I know that Silver from the Games is Giovanni's son, so that would make Aria his sister. Silver won't make an appearance in the story but the fact that she has a brother will be mentioned._

**Ivy Loretta – **A 10 year old girl from Cerulean City just starting out on her Pokemon journey. Like most young Pokemon trainers she is determined to become a Pokemon master. She's a naïve trainer and doesn't know much about type advantages/disadvantages and knows very little about battling, but is determined to learn. She leaves her hometown on the day of her 10th birthday to get to Pallet Town to receive her first Pokemon.

**Jay – **A 10 year old boy from Pallet Town, his goal is to become a Pokemon Researcher similar to his parents. When battling he stays strictly to what the books he's read have told him and believes it is impossible that a Pokemon with a type disadvantage in a battle can ever win it.

**Alex - **A 10 year old boy and Ivy's future rival. He's an arrogant boy and believes that it's impossible for Ivy to ever beat him. Despite being much more skilled than Ivy in Pokemon batting, though, he is the one person Ivy is determined to beat.

**Amy Loretta - **Ivy's mother and a former Elite Four member. She specializes in water-type Pokemon which is why she came to Cerulean City after leaving the Elite Four. She is now a retired trainer and spends her time with her Vaporeon (which had been her first Pokemon when she had gotten it as an Eevee) and with Misty at the Cerulean City Gym as her daughter travels Kanto.

**Misty - **The Cerulean City Gym Leader and former traveling partner of Ash Ketchum. She is good friends with Ivy and her mother ever since Ivy signed on to help her with chores around the gym before leaving for her journey.

**Morty - **The Ecruteak City Gym Leader and former traveling partner of Aria Giovanni. He has come to Kanto to visit Aria and her new gym.

**Professor Samuel Oak -** A famous Pokemon Professor currently living in Pallet Town. He gives new trainers the three Kanto starter Pokemon and aides them in their journeys.

**Tracey Sketchit - **Professor Oak's assistant and former traveling companion of Ash Ketchum.

**Noah - **A 14 year old trainer who has become the newest Gym Trainer in the Viridian City Gym. He's a quiet and nervous boy who isn't sure what he wants to become later in life. He is training in the Viridian Gym under hopes that he will figure out his passion and become a better trainer.

**Team Rocket Agents Melony and Gavin - **Melony and Gavin were originally two top agents for Team Rocket, mostly monitoring the Kanto region. They're in the early 20's and joined Team Rocket when they were in their mid-teen's. Recently, though, they screwed up an important mission and have been desperate to redeem themselves from it. Because of this, they've mostly been on small missions, trying to get Pokemon (any kind that might seem of minor significance) for Giovanni so that they can gain his trust again. Of the two, Melony is the leader. She is lazy, bitter, and can be occasionally careless with things unless it is dealing with an important mission. Gavin, on the other hand, mostly follows Melony's command and is rather ignorant and mocking. He's much more hardworking than Melony is which comes in handy when something has to be done and Melony doesn't want to do it.

**More to be added later!**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the Pokemon characters from the anime/games.**_

_Chapter 1: A New Beginning_

**Aria**

Aria Giovanni made her way reluctantly through Viridian Forest. Her footsteps dragged on the ground causing dead leaves to scatter around her. She sighed, stopping in her tracks and looking up at the bright blue sky. It was incredible how much she didn't want to go back.

Aria had been born and raised in Viridian City, but unlike most people she did not find comfort at being home. To her, she didn't really have a home, not yet at least. When her father had been the Gym Leader of the Viridian City Gym, she had been kept there under his hold because she refused to see things his way. He used Pokemon as tools and hunted for the most valuable ones. When she was 13 years old, she ran away and started on her Pokemon journey with her Growlithe (who had later evolved into an Arcanine) at her side.

But that was a long time ago, and not only that, but Arcanine was dead now, and she was the new leader of the Viridian City Gym. Unfortunately.

She would much rather be in Sinnoh right now like Ash was, discovering new places and Pokemon, even earning badges again, but she had been called back to Kanto to take the position as a Gym Leader. She could've refused, she knew that, but she also knew that this was her duty. Perhaps she would stick around the gym for a few years and after that continue on her journeys again. Then, maybe, she would challenge the Pokemon League again, and regain her title as Champion.

But all of this didn't matter now. What mattered now was getting to Viridian City on time and getting to her new gym. And as she walked she could see the end of the forest come as she saw the buildings rise up on the horizon. After a long trek back from the Hoenn Region, she was finally back.

"_Niine?" _

She looked down and saw her Ninetails coming up beside her. She smiled and patted her head lightly before looking back at the city as she said, "Well, Ninetails, we're home."

Ninetails made a quiet noise as if the word "home" offended her. But then she went on ahead towards the city and Aria quickly followed suit.

_It's changed a lot since I've been here._ She noted silently as they walked through the city. There were more stores, more trainers, more everything. Then again, she hadn't been back to Viridian City in quite a long time. She touched the Pokeball hanging from her neck lightly before continuing on.

She saw Ninetails stop up ahead in front of a building she was assuming to be the gym. It had thankfully been rebuilt after it had been destroyed a while ago. There apparently had been a previous gym leader to take over after her father had left the gym, but they didn't last long she heard. Wanted bigger, better things.

_I don't blame them. I don't want to be stuck here either._

She stopped right next to Ninetails and examined the building. She sighed, taking in the memories of her times stuck in the Viridian City Gym. But at least the older building had been destroyed, so there was less to haunt her about her childhood.

Ninetails then headbutted her leg lightly, as if trying to move her towards the door. She knew she had to go in, but she didn't want to. But after another shove from Ninetails, she finally went up the steps and towards the door.

"Well, Ninetails," She said with her door on the handle, "Here we go."


	2. Chapter 2: The Starting of a Journey

_Chapter 2: The Starting of a Journey_

**Ivy**

"And next up is Ivy Loretta from Cerulean City!"

Ivy stepped forward from where she stood in the middle of her bedroom. She cupped her hands around her mouth as she made sounds similar to a crowd of people. She then dropped her hands as she reached over and grabbed a closed Voltorb Clock from her nightstand.

"Ivy's now about to send out her first Pokemon," She narrated, winding up for the throw, "What will it be?"

Just as she was about to throw the clock, her mother opened the door to her room and Ivy froze, balancing on one leg in mid-throw.

"Ivy!" Her mother scolded, "You need to start getting your stuff together. You're leaving _tomorrow_."

Ivy got back down on two legs and dropped her arms as she said, "I know…"

"Why don't you get your stuff together and then head down to the gym," Her mother suggested then, her voice gentler, "I'm sure Misty will want to say goodbye to you before you go."

"Oh, right," She set down the clock and said, "I'll do that right now!"

Before her mother could object, she was running down the stairs and outside. Her mother sighed then and said to no one in particular, "I guess I'll be packing for her." And proceeded to grab her daughter's bag and began to fill it up with all the necessary supplies. And of course, extra underwear.

…..

Ivy jogged down the road as she headed towards the towering building of the Cerulean Gym. Her excitement was building from each passing minute. Soon she would become a Pokemon Trainer, and then a Pokemon Master! She knew she could do it, she had the ability. Her mother had been a part of the Elite Four when she was younger, specializing in water type Pokemon. That was probably why she moved to Cerulean City when she got older and had Ivy. But if her mother was a former Elite Four, then who knows what she could do!

_I'll be the strongest trainer in the world, just wait and see!_

"Misty!" She called as she opened the door to the Gym. She looked around, her call echoing around the room. She shrugged and went over to the door that led to the pool where the battles were held. She opened up the door and looked in. She saw then Misty who was dragging Psyduck out of the pool. Ivy couldn't help but snicker at this – Misty's Psyduck was the only water Pokemon she knew who didn't know how to swim. But whenever Ivy made fun of Psyduck, Misty always told her that it had much more power than it looked. She still doubted it.

"Misty!" She ran over to the young Gym leader as she walked out of the pool, setting her Psyduck on the ground.

"Oh Ivy," She smiled as she straightened up and said, "Are you getting excited for your journey?"

"Definitely," Ivy grinned, jumping a little from the excitement bubbling up inside of her before saying, "I just came here to say goodbye."

"Well I'm glad," Misty said, "I'm going to miss you, I don't know how I'm going to get all these chores done by myself."

"I'm sure my mom will come over more now that I'm gone," Ivy said, her smile faltering slightly, but then being quickly regained. "Anyways, I'll always visit."

"Of course," Misty nodded as she returned her Psyduck to its Pokeball and asked, "So which Pokemon are you thinking of choosing?"

"Well," Ivy sat down at the edge of the pool, her feet dangling in the water. Misty sat down next to her, her eyes studying the young girl quietly. "My mom wants me to choose Squirtle," She continued, "But…I don't know."

"Do you not like Water Pokemon?" Misty asked, reaching forward to pet her Horsea as it came up to the surface. It made a small noise before diving down into the water again.

"It's not that I don't like them," Ivy struggled to explain, "I just don't love them like you or Mom does."

"Everyone has their own preferences," Misty agreed with a small nod, "I'm sure your mother will be happy with whatever Pokemon or path you choose."

"Well I already know my path," Ivy perked up at this, "I'll become a Pokemon Master!"

Misty gave a small laugh as she commented, "You remind me of someone else who used to say that a lot."

"Really?" Ivy turned to look at her, "Who?"

"It doesn't matter," Misty stood up then and said, "Come on, you should be heading home soon."

"Oh, right." She got up, then, and followed Misty outside.

Once they got outside, Misty went over to something that was hiding behind one of the bushes. "Since you're traveling such a long ways to Pallet Town," She said as she dragged it out, "I figured this might help."

What she brought out was a bike. It looked almost brand new, perhaps used a few times. It had a basket at the front and even had freshly pumped tires.

"Wow," Ivy's eyes rounded, "Is this mine?"

"No of course not," Misty chuckled, "It's my bike, but I'll let you borrow it. When you come back to Cerulean, you can return it. Of course," She smiled, "I also hope you'll be looking for a Gym battle too."

"Of course!" She took the bike from Misty and sat down on it, gripping the handle bars with her hands. "And I bet you I'll win!"

She laughed and said, "We'll see about that."

"I have to go now," She began to pedal away. She half turned and waved to Misty as she called, "Bye Misty! Next time I see you, I'll be a Pokemon trainer!"

Misty laughed and waved, calling out a farewell. When she couldn't see Ivy in sight anymore, she turned around and headed back into the Gym. _I hope she learns as much as Ash and I did on our journeys together as she heads out on her own._


	3. Chapter 3: A Single Decision

_Chapter 3: A Single Decision_

Three days had passed since Ivy left on her Pokemon journey, and still she had not gotten to Pallet Town. She knew that Cerulean City wasn't exactly close to Pallet Town, but she had never presumed that the journey would be taking _this _long. Getting to Pewter City had been the easy part, but she had been wandering Viridian Forest for two days now and had gotten lost several times.

"This is harder than I thought," She said out-loud, to no one in particular, as a sigh escaped her lips. She pushed Misty's bike forward as she walked on the ground. The bike had gotten a flat tire earlier, which added a considerable amount of time to the journey.

After about another half hour of walking, she finally noticed the buildings on the horizon. She stopped as she saw the break in the trees and let out a scream of joy. _Finally_ she had gotten through this awful forest! And then once she was in Viridian City, it would just be a short ways to Pallet Town after that. And maybe too she could get her bike fixed along the way.

She ran, then, a new burst of energy consuming her as she reached the city. Viridian City was even larger than Cerulean, and the amount of trainers and stores surprised her. There were so many people, which meant so many Pokemon too. She could see some Pokemon helping their trainers in their shops, or others simply walking next to them.

_I thought Pokemon were supposed to stay in their Pokeballs…_

She shrugged the thought away though as she pushed forward. She needed to find a bike shop or…_somewhere_ to fix the bike. She saw then the Pokemon Center right in the middle of town. It was a large, circular like building and out in front of it trainers seemed to assemble, talking about each others Pokemon.

_Well, maybe I can find someone in there._

She went forward, moving between the different people until she got inside. She saw Nurse Joy there, standing behind the counter and talking to another trainer.

"Here you go, Joey," She pushed a tray of Pokeballs towards the boy, "Your Rattata and all of your other Pokemon are in perfect health."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" The boy, Joey, exclaimed as he took the Pokeballs and rushed out of the center.

Soon after he left, Nurse Joy turned to Ivy and asked, "Can I help you?"

"Oh, um," She looked down at Misty's bike and said, "You see, I was on my way to Pallet Town to get my first Pokemon but…my bike got a flat tire." She looked back up at her, "I was wondering if you knew anyplace that will fix it?"

"Oh don't worry about that," Nurse Joy went around the counter and took the bike from her, "I can fix it up in a jiffy. Just wait here for a little bit."

"Oh…okay. Thank you!"

Nurse Joy simply smiled and walked off with the bike towards the backroom. Ivy then looked around, wondering what she should be doing. Just as she was about to sit down, though, she saw another boy walk in. He was Ivy's age, but with black hair and blue eyes. The way he walked made her think of some of the arrogant trainers she saw come to Misty's gym.

He came to the desk, looked around, and then turned to look at Ivy. His blue eyes studied her once before asking, "Where's Nurse Joy?"

"Oh, um," She was surprised he even decided to talk to her and tried to ignore the rough tone he used, "She's in the back. She's fixing my bike…"

"Your bike, huh?" He crossed his arms and said, "Not much of a trainer if you can't even take care of your own bike."

She bristled at this and snapped, "I'm a fine Pokemon trainer!"

"Oh yeah?" He took out a Pokeball and twirled it on top of his finger, "Prove it with a battle."

"Uh, well…" She looked down at her hands, "I don't exactly have a Pokemon yet."

He laughed then and said, "How can you call yourself a trainer if you don't have a Pokemon?"

"I will!" She glared up at him, her brown eyes sparkling with fury. How dare he talk down to her like that! If he knew who her mother was, he wouldn't be acting like this. "I'm heading to Pallet Town right now to get my first Pokemon!"

"Funny, I got my first Pokemon there too," He responded, putting his Pokeball back onto his belt.

"Which one did you get?" She decided to ask. He must've taken one of the starters.

"Why should I tell you?" He asked, laughing, "It's not like I'll be battling you. You'll be like half of the new trainers, you start out with your head full of things you're going to become and then come crying home to mommy after a week."

"That's not true!" She yelled, her hands curling into fists at her side. She forced herself to relax slightly as she spat, "Who are you anyways?"

"The name's Alex," He responded with a cocky smile, "I won't even ask who you are though, doubt you'll last long to be a real threat."

"Why you-"

"Ivy!"

She stopped and half turned seeing Nurse Joy come out with her bike. "Here you are," She said, "The tire's all fixed up for you."

"Oh, thank you!" She took the bike from her. She then gave a glare towards Alex's direction before looking at Nurse Joy saying, "I have to go. Thank you again!" She ignored Alex's laugh as she ran out of the Pokemon Center and continued on her journey to Pallet Town.

….

**Aria**

Aria sat in the middle of the battlefield in her gym, surveying the room quietly. She had had a few battles in here already, all of which she won with a simple flick of her wrist. At least back in the Pokemon League, the trainers she faced were worthy enough to put up a good fight. She was aching for the day where she would have another good fight, even if that meant she'd lose.

Suddenly, then, she heard a knock on the door. She sighed and stood up, figuring it was just another inexperienced trainer looking for another badge. _This one will be another easy one_, she figured as she walked down the hallway. But when she opened the door, it was not a trainer she met, but another gym leader, one whom she knew well.

"Morty!" She exclaimed, the surprise in seeing her former traveling partner making her stand as still as a rock. She hadn't seen Morty in a while, not since she had traveled the Johto region about a year ago. Why he was here, well, she had no idea.

"I heard you got a gym," He stated with a small smile, "So I decided to visit you to see if I can help with anything."

"Oh, um, sure," She said, letting him come in. "It's nothing much yet. I mean, everything's brand new but I still have to add some more adjustments to it."

"It's pretty impressive already though," He noted, looking around. "Where's the battle field?"

"This way," She showed him down the hallway as they came into the room.

"It sure has changed since I was last here," He said with a nod as he examined the room.

"Well, since you were last here was when we were on our journey," She pointed out, "Which was years ago."

"True," He smiled and added, "Have you heard how Ash is doing?"

"I hear he's in the Sinnoh region," She explained with a shrug, "Collecting more badges of course."

"He's becoming quite the trainer," He murmured, almost half to himself. Before she could respond, though, she heard the phone ring in the other room.

She sighed once before leaving with Morty following towards the next room. The other rooms (with the exception of a training room built in) were her living quarters. There was a living room, a kitchen, and upstairs were a couple of bedrooms and a study. She sat down in front of the telephone though and picked it up, seeing Misty's face appear on the screen.

"Misty!" She exclaimed, not expecting a call from the Cerulean City Gym Leader so soon.

"Hi Aria, hi Morty," Misty said with a smile.

"Hi, long time no see," Morty said with a small nod.

"What do you need?" Aria asked.

"Well, I just wanted to inform you about a new trainer," Misty explained, "She left a few days ago to start her journey, I won't be surprised if she's already in Viridian by now."

"What's her name?" She asked.

"Ivy Loretta," Misty told her.

"Any relation to Amy Loretta of the Elite Four?" Morty asked then. The name sounded familiar to Aria, but Amy had never been apart of the Elite Four when she had been Champion. It must have been years ago.

"Yes, she's her daughter," Misty said with a nod, "I thinks he holds some promise. She's young and inexperienced, but I still think she has a lot of promise to her. So I would look out for her when she becomes stronger."

Aria laughed and said, "Well, we'll see how strong she is if she comes to challenge me." She paused before saying, "Thanks for letting me know, though."

"Of course, bye!"

"Bye."

She hung up the phone then and sat there for a moment, letting Misty's words sink in. A new trainer with promise, well, a lot of people usually said that about people, but if Misty was the one who said it, then maybe this girl did show some sort of promise.

"Worried?" Morty asked, studying her face quietly.

"Of course not," She stood up then and said, "Why should I be? I bet this girl is just another trainer."

He frowned slightly but didn't argue with her as he simply said, "If you say so."

…

**Ivy**

"Pallet Town," She breathed the name as she saw the small town in view. After a three day journey, she was finally here. She rode her bike down the hill as she passed through the town. She saw small houses and with them parents and their Pokemon working together. Sometimes she saw a few kids running around, pretending to be Pokemon trainers. She smiled with the fact that she wouldn't be one of those kids anymore because she _was_ a trainer. Or at least, she would be soon.

Professor Oak's lab wasn't hard to spot. It sat on top of a hill with several acres of land and Pokemon behind it. She sat there on her bike in awe, staring at the building. Finally, though, she shook her head roughly to snap herself out of it, and jumped off her bike. She rested it against the fence before running up the steps to the lab.

"Hello…?" She called in as she opened the door. She walked into the room then and called again, "Hello?"

"Oh, you must be the new trainer," A young man came over then, holding a Marill in his arms.

She looked up at him and said, "Yes, um, I'm Ivy."

"Nice to meet you, Ivy," The Marill jumped out of his arms then and stood there at his side, "I'm Tracey, Professor Oak's assistant. Let me bring you up to where the Pokemon are held."

"Oh…okay," She nodded, following now somewhat reluctantly. She didn't know why, but she was becoming suddenly nervous. Perhaps she should've thought over which Pokemon to choose beforehand…

"Professor?" Tracey said as he led her up the stairs. "Ivy's here."

"Oh, Ivy," Professor Oak stood up from where he was sitting at his chair. She stared at the place in awe, never seeing so many computers or researching equipment in her life. "I presume you're the one here to pick your new Pokemon."

"Y-yes," She stammered, her face flushing then because of it. The two men chuckled then as Tracey led her over to the table.

"Well, here they are," Professor Oak said, indicating the two Pokemon with his hand. One was a Bulbasaur, the other a Charmander.

"I thought there were supposed to be three?" She asked, looking up at the Professor.

"Yes, well," He rubbed the back of his neck, "Another trainer came and just a day earlier and chose a Squirtle. Unfortunately I haven't had enough time to find another Squirtle…"

"Oh that's fine," She said, looking between the two Pokemon, "I didn't want Squirtle anyways." Now she had an excuse to tell her mom why she didn't choose Squirtle.

_That must be the Pokemon Alex has then…_

She studied the two Pokemon carefully. They stared back at her evenly with round, innocent eyes. She was tempted to ask if she could take both, until the Bulbasaur brought out his vines and slammed them against her legs, causing her to fall to the ground with a yelp.

"Ow…" She moaned, rubbing her lower back. She glared up at the Bulbasaur which laughed openly at her.

"I'm sorry, Ivy," Tracey said, laughing a little, "That Bulbasaur usually never acts up."

She got back up and gave the Bulbasaur a glare before turning her gaze to the Charmander. The Charmander now looked less innocent to her than before. It met her gaze defiantly, as if challenging her somehow.

"What?" She asked it. It turned its head away smugly with a small "_Char._"

She picked it up and held it out in front of her as she asked, "Do you think I can't train you?"

It nodded.

She bristled and said, "I certainly can!"

It shook its head. Then to prove its point let out an ember attack. Thankfully she had ducked just in time before it lit her head on fire.

"Perhaps you should wait for another Squirtle," Tracey suggested lightly.

"No," She said stubbornly. She turned to face them, holding the Charmander in her arms, "I choose Charmander." She tried to ignore its snicker. _I'll show you, you little pompous brat._

"Well…if you say so," Professor Oak complied. He then handed her a Pokedex and six Pokeballs, "Here's a Pokedex and some Pokeballs for you to capture Pokemon with." She set Charmander on the ground as she took the items. "The Pokedex is used to identify Pokemon, whenever you see one I would suggest using that right away, even before you catch it. It will tell you what you need to know."

"Okay, she nodded as she put all of them in her bag. She tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear then as she looked down at Charmander. It stared up at her, still holding that defiant look.

_I'm a Pokemon trainer now,_ She thought, _and I'll become the best one yet!_

…

A/N: I know things have been going a little slow lately, but things will start to speed up now that Ivy has really started her journey. Throughout the story I'll be adding in connections from the previous generation to this one. And yes, the Joey with the Rattata in this story was also the same one from the Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal/HeartGold/SoulSilver games. I just decided to throw him in as a joke. But anyways, I'll be posting the next chapter soon. Enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4: Allies and Rivals

_Chapter 4: Allies and Rivals_

**Ivy**

Ivy pedaled down the road that led to Virdian City. She had just left Pallet Town, though she had reluctantly stayed since after she got her Charmander it would have been night time soon. So she started off on her real journey the next day with her trusty Charmander by her side. Well, maybe "trusty" wasn't exactly the right word, but it at least stayed with her, even if it had a bit of an attitude.

While going down the road she saw a pond out of the corner of her eye. She smiled slightly and turned off the road and down towards the pond. She rested the bike against a tree and brought Charmander out of the basket that it had been resting in. She had decided to keep it out of its Pokeball so that she could, hopefully, get it to trust her more. At least it listened to her. Sort of.

"Here we go," She set Charmander on the ground. It looked around curiously as she sat down at the edge of the pond.

She half turned to face it and said, "Come on, Charmander, sit by me."

Charmander gave her a weary look before moving over. It sat down by her, with a few feet in between. She sighed and said, "Seriously, Charmander, I'm not going to bite."

This didn't seem to help since it let out another ember attack at her, but aimed wrong and it hit to the side of her. She let out a sigh of relief and said, "I wish you would stop doing that." It only gave her a glare this time, thankfully.

As she sat there, she stared out at the blue waters that reflected the sky. She smiled as she tipped her head back and felt the wind rustle her brown hair. Her hair only fell to her shoulders, so at least it wouldn't get too messed up in the wind. Her bangs were a different story, however.

_I can't look perfect all the time on my journey, I have to remember that, _She told herself.

Then, suddenly, she heard something moving in the water. She straightened up and looked over at the pond as she saw a Poliwag popping up and down in the water, disappearing for a second as it went below the surface and then reappearing again this time above.

"A Poliwag," She murmured, reaching for her Pokedex as she scanned the Pokemon.

"_Poliwag, the Tadpole Pokemon,_" Dexter explained, "_Its skin is so thin, its internal organs are visible. It has trouble walking on its newly grown feet._"

Her nose scrunched up at the explanation as she looked at Poliwag thinking, _Internal organs are…visible? Thanks, I really needed to know that…_

"Well, a Pokemon is a Pokemon," She said as she stood up, "Alright, Charmander, let's catch it!"

It yawned and stayed sitting on the ground.

"Come on, Charmander!" She exclaimed, "Let's show this thing what we're made of!"

Charmander gave her a look but reluctantly got up. She smiled and pointed at the Poliwag and said, "Alright, Charmander, use ember!"

As the flames traveled from Charmander to the Poliwag, she felt confident that she would be able to show this Poliwag what she was made of. However, she didn't expect it to dive under water almost immediately as she called out the attack.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, her hand tightening around the Pokeball she had been planning to catch it with, "That's cheating!"

Right as she said that, though, the Poliwag jumped above the surface and let out a water gun attack. Charmander ducked, hoping not to get sprayed, but the attack instead hit Ivy right in the face. Before she could do anything, the Poliwag dove back into the water, leaving her soaking wet.

_Thanks for the bath…_

"That's no way to catch a Pokemon."

She whipped around when she heard the voice, expecting to see that kid, Alex, but instead seeing someone else. It was a boy that looked about the same age as her. He had brown hair and rectangular glasses that were held over his dark gray eyes. He crossed his arms before bringing one hand up to adjust the position of his glasses, causing them to reflect sun and blocking out his eyes from her point of view. His eyes then reappeared from behind his glasses as he moved closer, his hands dropping to his sides.

"Yeah? Says who?" She snapped at him.

"Says everyone," He examined her once before saying, "You're not much of a trainer from the looks of it."

"I'm a fine trainer!" She exclaimed.

"Then how come your Pokemon is wandering around outside of its Pokeball?" He pointed to Charmander, "You clearly can't tame it, I have no idea why Professor Oak would give you a Pokemon."

She gritted her teeth and snapped, "I can take care of my Pokemon just fine! I've just been spending time with it."

"If that's what you want to call it," He responded, giving her a flat look.

"How do you know I got Charmander from Professor Oak anyways?" She demanded, crossing her arms defiantly.

He raised his eyebrows and said, "Where do most beginning trainers get Charmanders? Anyways, I got my Bulbasaur from him this morning and noticed the other two Pokemon were gone already. No problem though, I wanted a Bulbasaur anyways."

"A…Bulbasaur?"

"Yep," He took out the Pokeball and released his Bulbasaur. It looked up at Ivy with distaste. Before she could even stop it, it took out its vines again and slammed them against her legs. She let out a yelp and fell the ground again.

"Ugh, thanks a lot!" She snapped, glaring up at Bulbasaur and the kid from the ground.

"Sorry…." He waited for a name.

"Ivy."

"Ivy. I'm Jay, by the way, but it's not my problem Bulbasaur hates you."

"It's your Pokemon!" She snapped.

"So?" Now he was starting to lose his temper.

"So you should learn how to control it!"

"Maybe you should start learning how to control your own!"

"Yeah? Well why don't you stuff it!"

"Why don't _you _stuff it!"

As the two trainers argued, though, the two Pokemon watched the exchange. Charmander looked down and over to Bulbasaur. The Bulbasaur gave it a cocky grin and taunted it by sticking its tongue out at Charmander. Charmander, deeply insulted, ran towards it for a scratch attack. The Bulbasaur dodged though and started to run away from the quarreling trainers. Charmander ran after it, out running it so that it stood in front of the Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur growled then and sent a vine whip attack right towards Charmander. Charmander, though, jumped to get out of the way, but as it did so, the vines smashed down onto the bike.

"_My bike!_" Ivy screeched. _No, it's Misty's bike…Oh no!_

Charmander took no notice as it went behind Bulbasaur and sent an ember attack its way. But Bulbasaur dodged and the attack went straight towards the bike, destroying it even further.

"Return, Bulbasaur!" Jay said then, returning Bulbasaur to its Pokeball.

"Return!" Ivy commanded and this time Charmander actually complied to what she ordered. She then ran over to the barbequed bike, giving it one look before turning to Jay and yelling, "This is all your fault!"

"_My_ fault?" He cried indigenously, "It's _your_ fault, you were the one that got our Pokemon all riled up!"

"Your Bulbasaur smashed it with its vine whip!"

"Your Charmander burnt it with its ember!"

The two glared at each other for a few seconds before Jay turned his back and said, "This is useless. I'm leaving before more damage is done."

"No way," She followed him, "You're going to repay me for that bike."

"_Repay_ you?"

"That's right."

He glared at her from behind his glasses before finally breaking with a sigh as he said, "Well, I suppose mentoring a complete novice could do me some good."

"What did you say?"

"Come on," He ignored her comment as he walked off, "Viridian City isn't far off."

…

A/N: And another girl's bike is destroyed…haha. Now things will start to get interesting, so keep reading!


	5. Chapter 5: Memories

_Chapter 5: Memories_

**Aria**

Aria sat on her bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly. Her dark blue eyes traced the patterns the ceiling made. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she figured she should start training, but the energy to do so did not accompany her. If only she had the motivation like she did when she was the Champion, or when Arcanine was by her side.

Arcanine's death had been a horrible "accident" as she had told people. But it hadn't been an accident, it had been done on purpose, and she knew that. A while ago, back when her father was the leader of the Gym, she had been hearing reports of the Viridian Gym containing an extremely strong, psychic Pokemon. It was a Pokemon, the reports said, like no other and was likely to be the strongest Pokemon on this earth. When she heard of this, though, she made the foolish decision of returning to the gym and facing this Pokemon.

It was a strange Pokemon that had been covered in armor so that it hid most of its appearances. All she remembered was how its body was rather cat-like, with a long, purple-ish tail and how it balanced on the tips of its toes like a cat's back legs. She didn't know what to make of it, but ordered Arcanine to go after it anyways. But Arcanine was no match for its supreme psychic attacks, and soon the battle was forced to end.

At the end of the battle, Arcanine was barely alive. She rushed him to the Pokemon center, but it was already too late. He at least had died in her arms as she held onto him and begged him to live. But all of her pleas were useless, she understood that now.

Arcanine's death destroyed her. Many people doubted whether she would be able to hold onto the Championship after losing her strongest Pokemon, but she had managed it for a bit of time. Unfortunately, though, she had not been able to hold onto it forever, and soon enough she had lost her Championship and ended up as the Viridian City Gym Leader. Everything had changed.

"Aria?"

Her eyes flicked over to where Morty stood at the door. His face was unreadable and steady, but she could see the flash of concern go through his eyes. She figured that Morty's excuse of wanting to "help out" was false. Of course, she knew that he did want to help, but not with the gym. She knew he was concerned about her, after first losing Arcanine and now her Champion title.

"Yeah?" She sat up on her bed as he came over to her.

He sat down on the bed and said, "You alright? You should start this morning's training."

"Training for what?" She gave him a flat look, "It's not like there are many trainers who can beat me."

"But one just did, Aria." She didn't respond to that, so he continued, "Even if you think you're stronger than the other trainers out there, that still isn't an excuse to stop training."

"I'm not saying I'm going to stop completely," She tried to explain, "I'm just taking a little break, that's all."

"You used to tell me there were no such things as breaks," He reminded her quietly.

"Yeah, well," She tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear, "That was before all this happened."

He stared at her for a long moment, his brown eyes staring into her blue as if trying to search for some reason why she was suddenly acting this way. But Morty wasn't a fool, he knew why. Or at least he should after all this time they had been friends. But recently the word "friends" somehow bothered her in ways she couldn't describe.

After a moment, though, he sighed with resignation and looked away saying, "Fine. But I'll at least have my Pokemon work with yours. They should do something than laze off in that yard." The yard he was talking about was her rather large backyard where her Pokemon stayed most of the day. It was beautiful with trees, bushes, flowers, a pond or two, and plenty of space to play. Of course, it was nowhere near the size of Professor Oak's several acres, but hers was the perfect size for her own Pokemon.

"Fine," She said, looking away from him and out the window that was beside her bed. She could see the buildings of the city that made her remember the several times she looked out her old bedroom window when she was younger and beg for a chance to go on a journey of her own. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

Morty got up then without a word and left though she pretended that she didn't notice. He knew he was upset and that he wanted to help, but she just knew he couldn't understand why she didn't try anymore.

_Why bother? It's not like anything will change._

But she still wished it would.

...

A/N: I just felt I should explain the timeline of events that happened with Aria's past. Her Arcanine died a little bit before Ash won his 8th badge in Kanto. She managed to keep her Championship until she lost it around the time that Ash competed in the Battle Frontier (probably somewhere around when he won his 2nd last Frontier Symbol). Between then and now she had continued her journey around Hoenn until she was called back to become the Viridian Gym Leader. Since the anime doesn't really have much sense of time I can't tell how many months or years its been, but I would suspect it's been about two years since her Arcanine died. But as you can see, she constantly lives in the past so she's never been able to recover from past traumas.


	6. Chapter 6: The Gym Challenge

_Chapter 6: The Gym Challenge_

**Ivy**

"Viridian City!" Ivy exclaimed as she saw the shining city ahead of her. It had taken her twice as long to get there without her bike (now that it was destroyed thanks to _someone_) and the trip hadn't exactly been all that wonderful with her fighting with Jay most of the time. But she had to admit, it was nice traveling with someone, even if it was Jay.

"Come on, we can't just sit and stare at it all day," Jay muttered as he shoved past her.

She glared at his back but started walking again. She then said, "So after this it's Pewter City, right?"

"Yes," He glance at her as if half surprised she even knew, "The first gym is there too. Well, not technically, but it's the first one people go to."

"You mean there's a gym before Pewter?" She asked, tipping her head to one side.

He smirked, as if her lack of knowledge was typical, "Yes. There's a gym in Viridian City, but you shouldn't even consider that one, you won't have a chance."

She bristled at this and snapped, "I do too have a chance!"

He gave her a look before saying, "No, I don't think you do. Anyways, there's a new Gym Leader there too. I don't know who it is, but I hear he's tough."

"I can take him," She insisted as they finally got out of the forest and walked into the city. She stopped in her tracks and asked, "Which way is the gym?"

He stopped and looked at her with an incredulous look as he asked, "You're not serious, are you?"

"I certainly am," She said, raising her chin slightly in defiance.

He studied her for a few moments before sighing and pointing in the direction of the gym, "It's that way."

"Great," She said, running in the direction he had pointed.

Jay hesitated, watching her run off, before shaking his head and slowly following as he muttered under his breath, "This should be interesting."

…..

"So this is the gym?" She asked as she stared up at the building. There were steps that led up to the brick building and it had a certain sense of grandness to it that made you shiver. This was a _real_ gym, and she was determined to win its badge.

"Yes," Jay said, adjusting his glasses as he said, "You should know that your odds are against you. You haven't even been in a Pokemon battle before."

"I can do it," She said, ignoring his words. She was the daughter of a former Elite Four member, she had the ability to do anything!

But Jay just snorted and said sarcastically, "Sure you can."

She scowled at him but went up the steps and opened the door. She was met with a long, dark hallway with an eerie feeling that seemed to emanate from the walls. She took in a deep breath as she walked down the hallway, Jay following in suit.

"Hello?" She called, her voice bouncing off of the walls and echoing back to her.

"Let's save you from more embarrassment and just leave," Jay suggested quietly as he took in the surroundings.

"No way, I'm not backing down," She insisted as she continued walking down the hallway. Finally the two trainers were brought to a well-lit battlefield. She walked to the center of the field and looked around the room in awe. So _this _was an actual battlefield. It was much different than the battlefield in the Cerulean Gym since there was obviously no water, but it somehow looked much more professional too. This was like the battlefields she dreamed of fighting on and growing stronger with her-

"Who are you?"

She jumped as she was shaken from her thoughts and turned around. Standing in the frame where the hallway opened up to the battlefield was a young woman. She seemed to be about 17 years old, maybe 18, and she had long, wavy brown hair that fell to just above the middle of her back. Her piercing blue eyes studied the two trainers carefully from where she stood.

"U-uh, I'm Ivy. Ivy Loretta," She stammered out, "And this is Jay."

Jay didn't say anything, he almost seemed to be in too much of a shock to say anything. Finally he choked out, "You're-"

"The Gym Leader," She cut him off. Her blue eyes flicked from Ivy to Jay then Ivy again as she asked, "Are you both here for a Gym Battle?"

"I am," Ivy said, stepping forward. She tried to swallow her sudden nervousness as she continued, "I'm challenging you to a battle."

She smirked at this and murmured, "Are you sure you want to do that, kid?"

Ivy stiffened and said with an edge in her voice, "I'm not a _kid_. And yes I'm sure."

"Ivy, I don't think-" Jay started, but the Gym Leader cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"If she's this determined then let her battle," Her blue eyes narrowed, "Might as well let her learn defeat early."

"How do you know she just started?" Jay asked, clearly shocked.

"She's still confident," She said with scorn in her voice as she moved over to the other side of the battle field. She turned to Ivy and asked, "Well?"

Ivy stiffened and met the leader's cold gaze for a second before turning and going over to the other side. Then she heard Jay ask, "Who's going to judge?"

"I believe I can," Came another voice. Ivy turned her head and saw another man, about the same age as the Gym Leader, come into the room. He had blond hair and brown eyes as he took in the two young trainers. He seemed kinder than the Gym Leader, but there was still a sense of seriousness in him.

"This is Morty," The Gym Leader explained, "A Gym Leader from the Johto region. I don't have a proctor yet, so he can judge the battle."

As Morty walked over, he looked over at Ivy and gave her a small nod saying, "Good luck," before taking his place. He actually did seem sincere when he said it, but Ivy sensed there was doubt in his voice too, as if she didn't have a chance.

_I'll show them what an Elite Four's daughter can do!_

"What type of battle?" Morty asked, glancing at the Gym Leader.

"How about a one –on-one," She suggested, "Don't want to drag this out for too long."

"Very well," Morty raised both of his hands, "This is a one-on-one Pokemon battle. Let the battle begin!"

"Go Charmander!" Ivy called out, releasing Charmander from its Pokeball.

"A Charmander?" The Gym Leader laughed, "This should be easier than I thought."

"Charmander's a strong Pokemon!" Ivy defended it. Charmander stood up taller as she said this, trying to prove it wasn't weak. _I know you aren't, Charmander, let's prove it to her too._

But she just laughed and said, "Let's see how it fairs against this. Come on out, Ninetails!" She tossed her pokeball into the air, releasing her Ninetails. Something about it – maybe it was the way it stood or how the confidence that came off of it – seemed to tell Ivy that it was a strong Pokemon. It stared at her Charmander with contempt, as if it thought it was better than her Charmander.

_I'll show you_, She thought bitterly before shouting out, "Charmander use ember now!"

"Ninetails dodge."

Before the flames even touched Ninetails it was jumping out of the way and ready for its next attack. Ivy didn't even have a chance to call out an attack when the Gym Leader jumped forward with her own.

"Ninetails, finish it off with an iron tail," She said with a dismissive flick of her hand.

"Ivy, do something!" Jay called out then, but she couldn't. Her mouth hung open as she tried to choke out an attack or _something_ to save the battle, but it was useless. The Ninetails moved so fast she couldn't even react and soon enough her Charmander was sent flying into the air and slamming into the wall.

"Charmander!" Ivy screamed, running towards where Charmander was. It was on the ground when she reached it, its eyes closed and it let out a small moan when she kneeled down beside it. She didn't need to be a doctor to know how badly hurt Charmander was. But it had just been one hit, _one hit_! How did that even happen?

"I told you not to do it," Jay scolded her as he ran up to her. "Don't you know who that is?" He pointed to the Gym Leader, "That's _Aria Giovanni_, the former League Champion!"

"Aria…Giovanni," She spoke the name slowly. Yes, that name sounded familiar. She had lost the Championship recently, but she had never heard that she become the Viridian City Gym Leader. She looked back down at her Charmander, realizing how much of a fool she had just been.

_I can't beat her, I can't beat anyone like this…I haven't even trained and I thought I would be able to beat a Gym Leader…_

"Come on," Aria came over to her then, her voice now serious instead of scornful, "Let's take your Charmander to the Pokemon Center."

….

"You were a fool, I hope you know," Jay told her, his voice still harsh.

"I _know_ I was," She growled, "You don't have to keep saying it." But she hardly had the energy to argue with him and he seemed to sense that since he backed off after that. She didn't care what he thought anyways, all she cared about was her Charmander. She hoped it would be okay after her foolish actions…Oh what had she been thinking?

"Your Charmander will be okay," Aria said then as she came over to the other two trainers. She sat down in front of them as her Ninetails laid on the ground beside her.

"You think so?" She looked up at the Gym Leader hopefully.

Aria nodded, "I've seen worse conditions before. Your Charmander's tough for such a new Pokemon."

"Really?" Jay and Ivy said simultaneously. Ivy glared at Jay once before continuing, "You really think so?"

"Well," She tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear as she continued, "That is if his trainer is qualified enough to train him sufficiently."

Ivy stiffened again and snapped, "I'll be qualified!" Because if she wouldn't, then she would never become a great trainer like her mom. She had to train and to keep training because she was the daughter of an Elite Four member, she had to live up to her expectations. She _had_ to, no matter what.

Aria gave her an amused look, though, at her words and was about to say something until they heard, "Don't be too hard on her, Aria."

Morty came over then, giving Ninetails a pat and sitting down next to Aria. Aria gave him a glare and exclaimed, "You're supposed to be taking care of the gym!"

"There's nothing to take care of," He told her with a small smile before turning to Ivy and asking, "How's your Charmander?"

"U-uhm," She stammered, "I don't know. It's still…" She glanced at the lit up sign of a needle above one of the doors.

"It'll be okay," Morty told her, "Aria didn't go that harsh on you."

"That harsh?" Ivy exclaimed, her eyes widening, "Ninetails took Charmander out with one hit!"

"Do you know how strong Ninetails is?" Jay gave her a flat look, "You just got your Charmander yesterday, it never stood a chance."

"Maybe it will once you've trained it," Morty told her, ignoring the look Aria gave him that said _Yeah, right._

She was about say something then when she heard Nurse Joy's voice say, "Ivy?"

She jumped up when she heard it and ran over to Nurse Joy asking, "Is Charmander okay?"

She smiled kindly and said, "Your Charmander is going to be fine. It just needs some rest." Then she put her hands on her hips and turned to Aria saying, "And Aria, you need to be easier on challengers. I've been getting so many Pokemon coming in from your battles it's not even funny!"

Aria frowned and shrugged saying, "It's not my fault they're careless enough to challenge me."

"Just go a little easier on them, please?" Nurse Joy asked, sighing.

"I make no promises, but I'll try," She said with enough of a careless tone that said she most likely wouldn't try.

"Please do," Nurse Joy told her before turning around and heading back inside the backroom.

"Well, Ivy," Aria said, standing up, "You and Jay should get back on the road soon."

"You're right, we should," Jay said, also standing up.

"You two should head to Pewter City," Morty told them as he came over to them, "You have to go through the Viridian Forest but that should be a good opportunity to catch some new Pokemon."

"Alright, thanks," Ivy said as Aria gave them a nod and started to leave.

But then, the Gym Leader stopped at the door and turned again as she said, "Ivy, Jay, good luck on your journey." And with that she was gone.


	7. Chapter 7: The Catch

_Chapter 7: The Catch_

**Ivy**

"How long is this forest?" Ivy complained as she groggily followed Jay through Viridian Forest. She really wished that there was some way around the forest because no matter what she did, she always managed to get lost. And if it was possible, she was positive that she was even more lost than she had been when she came through the first time.

"Long," Jay responded, then glanced at her as he told her, "Why don't you check your Pokegear, smart-one?"

"Oh, right. I have that," She said, deciding for once to ignore Jay's insult as she looked down at the Pokegear her mother had given her. It had been hanging around her neck all this time and she hadn't looked at it once since she began her journey. So much for it being useful.

"Okay," She then said as she stopped in her tracks, staring down at the Pokegear, "How do you use this?"

Jay sighed as he walked over to her and held out his hand, "Just give it to me."

She gave him a glare before taking it off of her neck and handing it to him. He then stepped closer to her and pointed to a button. "You press this for the map," He explained as he pressed it and a small version of a map appeared. A blinking icon of a pokeball come up then and he pointed to it, "That's where we are."

"So we're in the middle of nowhere," She stated as she took the Pokegear back and examined it. "We're literally smack-dab in the middle of nowhere."

When she didn't hear a response though, she looked up and called, "Jay?" She was then met with a harsh, "_Shh!_"

She looked over then and saw him standing still as he stared at the back of a Pokemon. She figured it was a bug Pokemon, though she had no idea which kind. She quietly came over, though, as Jay took out his Pokedex.

"_Yanma, the Clear Wing Pokemon,_" Dexter said, "_Yanma can see in all directions at once. Yanma is capable of beating its wings at a high rate of speed generating a powerful shockwave that can shatter glass._"

"It can see in all directions?" Ivy repeated quietly, "Doesn't that mean it can see us now?"

"Yeah apparently," Jay murmured. His hand tightened around his pokedex then as he said, "I have to catch it."

"Then catch it," She told him, looking away from the Yanma and settling her brown gaze on him.

"But…" He reached for one of his pokeballs and stared at it as he said, "Bulbasaur is weak against bug pokemon." He then looked at her, "Let me use Charmander!"

"What? No way!" She shook her head, crossing her arms against her chest, "Use your own Pokemon."

"Oh common, Ivy!" He exclaimed, "Fire is powerful against bug! I need Charmander."

"Oh so _now_ you think Charmander is useful," She spat at him bitterly.

"It's useful because I need it!" He yelled at her, turning away from Yanma so that he could glare at her.

"Well you're not getting it!"

"Yes I am!"

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

"No you're-wait!" She looked away from Jay and looked around, "Where's Yanma?"

Jay spun around in a circle, trying to find the bug Pokemon. Then he stopped as you could see a flash of red pass through the trees. "There!" He exclaimed, running after it.

"Jay, wait!" Ivy called, sighing before running after him.

"Bulbasaur, go!" Jay cried as he released his Bulbasaur from its Pokeball. "Use vine whip to stop Yanma!"

Bulbasaur's vines reached out towards the bug Pokemon as it paused midair. It let out a cry as it was brought down to the ground. It laid there on the ground for a second, too stunned to move.

"Catch it!" Ivy cried, so caught up in the moment she almost reached for her own pokeball.

"Right," Jay breathed as he reached for an empty pokeball and threw it towards Yanma. It captured the Pokemon and the two trainers stood there panting as they waited in anticipation to see if it was caught. It moved once, twice, then…_ding!_

"Yes!" Jay cried, reaching for the pokeball. He then spun it on top of his finger as he turned to Ivy and said, "Looks like you have some catching up to do."

She bristled at this and said, "You know, I was almost happy for you until you said that!"

"Well _I_ caught my first Pokemon and _you_ haven't," He told her smugly, "Aren't you supposed to be the hot-shot Pokemon master around here?"

She gritted her teeth together, silent for a moment before snapping, "I'll catch a Pokemon now, just you watch!"

"Alright," He fell in a step behind her as she marched off, "I will watch. Watch you fail."

"I won't fail," She hissed as she marched through the forest, her fists curled at her sides as she silently begged for a Pokemon to appear. She tried to ignore Jay's smug laugh behind her. _That kid really bugs me._

She wasn't sure how long she marched around the forest until she finally came to a pond to rest. She let out a breath, sitting down on the ground as she looked out at the still water. She needed to find a Pokemon and find it fast, but how? She had never caught a Pokemon before so she had no idea where she was supposed to start looking.

"Guess you haven't found anything yet," Jay told her, that hint of smugness still in his voice.

"Oh shut up," She snapped at him, crossing her arms against her chest as she glared out at the water.

_Please, just one Pokemon show up! I don't care which one!_

Almost as if her prayers had been answered, she saw something bubble at the surface of the water near her. She gasped and jumped to her feet as she stood there, waiting for it to break surface. The water kept bubbling until finally the Pokemon broke surface. She wasn't sure if she was suppose to be thrilled when she noticed it was a Magikarp.

Jay laughed behind her and said, "A Magikarp? It's basically useless."

"No Pokemon is useless!" She snapped at him, giving him a glare before looking at Magikarp and saying, "I'm catching it anyways."

"What? Why?" He gave her an odd look.

"Because," She reached for a Pokeball and continued, "Everyone knows that once a Magikarp evolves it evolves into a Gyarados."

"Yeah, and in order for that to happen a Magikarp has to go through a lot of training and care," Jay told her, "It's nothing that a Pokemon trainer who knows absolutely nothing about Pokemon can do."

"I know more about Pokemon than you think," She snapped at him, "I practically grew up in the Cerulean Gym. If anyone can raise a Magikarp into a Gyarados it's me."

Jay didn't say anything to this except for a disbelieving snort. She ignored him though and reached for an empty Pokeball. She took in a deep breath before closing her eyes. She knew it might be risky trying to train a Magikarp to evolve into a Gyarados, but if she managed to do it then maybe Jay would stop thinking she was so inexperienced. Yes, she could do this. She had to do this. So she opened her eyes and threw the Pokeball right towards the unsuspecting Pokemon.

It was an easy catch, she knew that much. A Magikarp wouldn't be able to fight against a pokeball even at full strength. So when the pokeball floated towards her, she reached down, grabbed it, and then turned to Jay as she said, "Just you watch. With Magikarp and Charmander by my side, I'll be able to become the strongest Pokemon trainer there is!"

Jay just frowned at this, staring at her for a long moment before saying, "Yeah. Good luck with that." He then added, "We'll stay here for the night and maybe by morning we'll be able to figure out how to get out of here." He didn't say anything else as he turned away from her and started setting up camp.

She didn't say anything either. She stared down at the pokeball in her hands, smiling to herself. Her mother would be proud that she was trying to raise a Magikarp and she knew she would be able to get some tips from Misty when they got to Cerulean City. All it needed was a little work and soon it would be one of the strongest Pokemon on her team. She would just have to train it right.

Hopefully she could do it.


	8. Chapter 8: The Right of Being Wrong

_Chapter 8: The Right of Being Wrong_

By the next afternoon, Jay and Ivy were still hopelessly lost. Their obnoxiously loud arguments echoed around the forest until they finally stopped by a stream to let their Pokemon out. The two trainers purposefully ignored each other as they rested until Jay spoke up:

"Ivy, tell me exactly what you're doing," he demanded as he watched the other trainer. She was sitting on the ground by the stream, petting her Magikarp who sat in the water as she poured more over its head.

"I'm washing it," she told him plainly, giving a kind smile towards her Magikarp. It gave her a smile and a small "_Magikarp_" back.

"It's a fish," Jay gave her a look from behind his glasses. "It's always in the water."

"I don't care," she responded simply. "It will help."

"_How?_"

"Because I said so," she snapped at him, losing her innocent attitude immediately. She then gave Magikarp a kind smile before standing up and turning to him saying, "Anyways, aren't you the one who told me that raising a Magikarp will take a lot of work?"

"Yes, but your Magikarp isn't going to turn into a Gyarados anytime soon. Anyway," His Yanma flew over and settled on his shoulder. He smiled and petted it before looking back at Ivy and continuing, "You should be worrying about catching more Pokemon. You can't win your next Gym battle with the Pokemon you have."

"And why not?" she demanded, crossing her arms as she glared at him defiantly.

"The Pewter City Gym is a rock type gym," Jay told her, acquiring what Ivy called his 'know-it-all' tone. "And all you have is a fire type and a water Pokemon that can do nothing but splash around."

"Magikarp doesn't just splash around!" she snapped at him. She then moved over to where Magikarp sat in the stream and bent down to pet it. "And don't say things like that in front of it, you'll hurt its feelings."

"Fine, whatever," Jay waved her words away as he continued, "I'm just trying to help you but you _obviously_ don't need it when you have your trusty Magikarp by your side."

"Exactly," she responded before turning back to Magikarp and saying, "Come on, Magikarp, let's go back inside your pokeball." It then disappeared inside its pokeball as Charmander came over to her.

"At least train Charmander a little," Jay told her suddenly, "Even if you have no chance with it in a rock type gym you might as well train it for future gyms."

"I'll train it," she told him carelessly. She patted Charmander's head and added, "Stop worrying about me and worry about yourself."

"I'm not the one getting ready for a gym battle," he muttered but turned away to attend to his own Pokemon.

They were quiet for a long time until Jay finally spoke up and said, "We should get going again."

"Right," Ivy sighed as she stood up. She glanced down at Charmander and asked, "Do you want to stay out with us?"

"_Charr_," It responded, which she figured was a _What do you think? Of course I want to!_ Because Charmander had too much attitude to simply say _Yes._ It gave her a flat look before she gave another sigh and told it, "Oh don't look at me like that, I was just asking!"

"Stop arguing with your Pokemon and try to find out where we are," Jay snapped as he made his Yanma and Bulbasaur return to its pokeballs.

"Stop ordering me around," she muttered, but took her Pokegear and went to the map. The blinking icon was still stuck in the middle of nowhere, but it looked like there was a path somewhere nearby. If only they could get to that path then maybe they might find a way out of this stupid forest…

"Let's try this way," she said as she started heading in the direction where the path was.

"Are you _sure_?" Jay asked her, following her reluctantly. "You said the same thing this morning and you got us lost again."

"I'm sure this time," she snapped before looking down at Charmander and asking, "You trust me, right?"

But the shake of Charmander's head was hardly reassuring.

They continued through the forest at a slow pace despite Ivy's numerous attempts to speed things up a bit. But even she was starting to get tired of trying to find where they were. It seemed as if this forest went on forever and there was no end in sight. Maybe there was no end and they would just be wandering aimlessly for the rest of their lives…

"Hey, Ivy, you better watch out before you run into that-" Jay's words were cut off, though, when she felt herself walk straight into a tree. "Tree," He continued with a sigh.

"Ow," she muttered, stepped back and rubbing her nose.

"What were you thinking about so deeply to run into a tree?" Jay asked as he came up beside her.

"I was thinking how we might wander this forest endlessly for the rest of our lives," she murmured, trying to ignore Charmander's laughter. She stuck her tongue out at him before saying, "It seems endless."

"We can't wander around forever," he pointed out, "It's impossible."

"Yeah, whatever," she muttered as she started to walk away. "You say that again when we're fifty and still not out of this darn forest."

But instead of Jay responding to her, another voice spoke up instead. "Need some directions?"

She turned around and came face to face with another trainer. She was small with curly brown hair and bright hazel eyes. Though she was smaller than Ivy, she seemed to be about the same age as her, but twice as arrogant. The way she looked would make someone think that she had a big ego just by the way she tried to look down on everybody.

"Yes we do," Jay spoke up before Ivy could say anything, "Do you know the way out?"

"I might," The corners of her lips turned up into a evil smile. "But I'll only give them to you on one occasion."

"And what's that?" Ivy demanded, stepping towards the girl.

"If you win against me in a Pokemon Battle," she responded, taking out one of her pokeballs.

"You have a deal," Ivy said automatically, taking out one of her own pokeballs.

"How come you get to be the one to battle her?" Jay demanded, glaring at her.

"Because I'm the one training for a gym battle," she responded, giving him a sweet smile. "Aren't you the one who said I needed more training? Well, battling is the best thing to do!"

Jay held her gaze for a moment before turning away and muttering something under his breath.

"Alright then, one-on-one," The girl told her.

"Fine," Ivy agreed, holding out one of her own pokeballs.

"Let's go, Bellsprout!" The girl cried as she released her Bellsprout.

"Bellsprout?" Ivy echoed, taking out her Pokedex.

"_Bellsprout, the flower Pokemon. It prefers hot and humid environments and is quick at capturing prey with its vines._"

"Alright," Ivy continued. "Go, Magikarp!"

"_Magikarp_?" Jay cried indigenously. "Why are you sending Magikarp out?"

"To prove to you that it isn't weak," she responded with a smug smirk.

"Magikarp is a _water_ Pokemon and Bellsprout is a _grass_ Pokemon, it'll never win!" He shook his head in disbelief.

"Sure it will," Ivy replied, deciding to ignore him as she continued, "Alright, Magikarp, let's show them how it's done. Tackle!" She paused, waiting for it to move, but all it did was wiggle on the ground. "Magikarp, I said tackle!"

"Magikarp doesn't know tackle, Ivy," Jay told her in a flat tone. "All it knows is splash."

"_Splash_?" She turned to look at him, "That's all it knows?"

"This will be easy!" The girl cried then with a hysterical laugh. "Alright, Bellsprout, let's use vine whip to send this fish flying!"

Bellsprout's vines whipped out then, slamming against Magikarp and sending it into the air. The fish Pokemon then fell to the ground, not moving a muscle.

"Magikarp!" Ivy ran towards her Pokemon, kneeling down beside it.

"You should learn how to battle first before you take on a gym," The girl threw over her shoulder as she left, "Or else you'll never get anywhere."

Ivy didn't say anything. She rocked Magikarp back and forth in her arms, trying to keep her crushing disappointment off of her face. Charmander then came over to her, resting its head against her arm. She couldn't help but smile at the small sign of comfort; Charmander may be difficult at times, but it did care about her, she saw that now.

"That was foolish," Jay scolded her, "You need to train more."

"I know, Jay!" She snapped, her voice breaking. She closed her eyes and whispered again, "I know."

Jay was quiet for a long time before finally saying, "Put Magikarp back in its pokeball and we'll keep going."

Ivy didn't respond, but she did as he said. She also put Charmander back in its pokeball too, despite its objections. She then stood up and silently walked off, figuring Jay would follow her. And he did, he followed her and stayed quiet as they walked through the forest, obviously thinking there was nothing to say.

_What was I thinking sending Magikarp out there? I don't know anything, I shouldn't even be calling myself a trainer…_

She sighed, letting the disappointment take her over. She was pathetic she shouldn't even be considered a trainer. She jumped right into battles without even thinking twice. If she was going to be the trainer she told her mom she was going to be, then she had to fix the way she was doing things. She couldn't keep acting so careless if she wanted to become the best trainer there was.

But even still, she couldn't get over how Jay always seemed to prove her wrong. Why? Why did that have to keep happening? Couldn't _she_ be right for a change? But then again, Jay always knew so much. He read books and studied Pokemon...maybe she should listen to him more often instead of being stuck up in her own pride. Although in her own defense, his arrogance made it harder for her to listen to him.

In the midst of her thoughts, though, Jay finally broke the silence: "Ivy," he said, "Is that a road?"

Ivy looked up, following Jay's gaze as her eyes settled on a beaten, dirt path. She looked down at her Pokegear and saw the blinking icon setting near the path she had seen earlier.

"It is!" She exclaimed, a new kind of energy erupting inside of her, "This is the path that will lead us to Pewter City!" Without waiting for Jay, she then ran towards the path before stopping in the middle of it.

Jay followed then with a small, faint smile spread across his face as he breathed, "It's the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Yes," she agreed, looking down the path as she continued, "There's a gym battle waiting for me and I'll be prepared."

"You better be," he gave her a look. "You can't lose like you did to that girl. Not to mention you haven't gotten into a real battle yet."

"I know," she looked over at him and murmured, "But if I work at it, I'll be able to get that badge. I _will_ get that badge and I don't care what it takes." _My mom is expecting me to be the greatest trainer there is. I won't let her down._

"Come on," Jay said then as he moved ahead of her, "Let's go."

…..

A/N: This was just another filler chapter, but we'll see in the next one whether or not Ivy will actually succeed in getting that badge. Keep reading!


	9. Chapter 9: Victory or Loss

_Chapter 9: Victory or Loss_

**Ivy**

"Pewter City," Ivy breathed the name of the city as she saw the city gate ahead. "I've never been so glad to see a city before."

"After days in that forest, I'm not surprised," Jay remarked as he walked up beside her. "We should go to the Pokemon Center, our Pokemon need rest."

"Right," she nodded and then added, "And after that, we'll go straight to the gym."

"I hope you're ready," Jay told her as they started walking again. "You can't do what you did with Aria this time."

"I know," she gave him a flat look. "I've been training, haven't I?"

"Training will do you no good," he stated with a shake of his head. "This is a rock type gym, you have no chance."

"It's just a type disadvantage," she murmured with a slight frown on her face. "It's not like I have no chance."

"_Just_ a type disadvantage?" Jay exclaimed, "You can't just ignore type disadvantages! If you're at a disadvantage you'll lose!"

"But there have been cases where people don't," she pointed out.

"Rare cases," he argued. "And that happens only with experienced trainers, not trainers who have only been one for a week."

"Hey!" she glared at him. "What about you? You just started a week ago too!"

"Yes but I've been studying Pokemon my entire life," he pointed out smugly. "And I'm not training to become a Pokemon Master and win a bunch of badges, I'm training to become the best Pokemon Researcher."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she waved away his words as they neared the Pokemon Center. "Just shut up for once, okay?"

"You should say the same thing to yourself," he muttered, but for once Ivy simply ignored him.

….

It was around dinner time when Ivy's and Jay's Pokemon were fully healed and they made their way to the Gym. They stood in front of the Gym, studying its rock-type structure and the sign above it that said "Pewter City Gym".

"You know you have to walk in if you want a battle," Jay murmured in her ear as they stood there.

"I know," she took a deep breath, "I'm just getting the nerves to do it. This one is the one that counts."

"Well then go," He nodded towards the building, "If you keep waiting it'll be dark out."

"Right," she nodded once before saying, "Let's go."

She took her first steps towards the gym, feeling the anticipation and nerves rise up inside of her. This was the battle that really mattered; this was where she was going to turn things around. But right as she came to the door and reached towards the handle, the door opened to reveal another trainer.

"Alex!" Ivy exclaimed, stepping back so that she wasn't hit by the door.

"Oh look, it's you," Alex's blue eyes ran over her as he then asked, "Have you gotten any Pokemon yet?"

"Yes, I have actually," she lifted her chin and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What about you? Caught anymore?"

"Of course," he smirked and then brought his hand down to his pocket to pull out a badge case. He opened it, revealing a brand new Boulder Badge shining inside. "I also got this badge too."

She gritted her teeth and was about to say some smart remark when Jay stepped forward and asked, "Sorry, but who exactly _are_ you?"

"Alex," he replied with a smirk. "And you are?"

"Jay," he glanced at Ivy before saying, "And I guess you know Ivy."

"Ivy? So that's your name," Alex laughed before adding, "What are you two doing here? I hope you're not going for a badge."

"Ivy is," Jay frowned slightly, "I'm not."

"And why do you say that?" Ivy stepped forward, raising her fist. "Do you think I can't win?"

"You must be a mind reader because you're right on the money," he gave her a darkly amused look and said, "Maybe you should do that instead of becoming a Pokemon Trainer. I have a feeling you'll be much more successful."

"Why you…" She was about to step forward once more so that she could take a swing at him, but she then felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back and saw Jay standing behind her, shaking his head slightly.

_Don't bother with him, he's not worth it, _his dark gray gaze said as he stared at her. Slowly her anger diminished and she gave a slow nod, turning back to Alex.

"Excuse me, Alex," she told him sweetly, "But I have a Gym Battle to get to." She then pushed past him, going for the door.

"Good luck, Ivy," Alex said, "You're going to need it."

But she ignored him as she walked in with Jay right behind her. She paused at the entrance before moving down the hallway towards the battlefield.

It was a different battlefield than the one in Aria's gym. This one was filled with boulders and rocks and up above the field there was a balcony so people could overlook the battle. The balcony, though, was dark since the only light in the room was centered in on the battlefield; even the spot she was standing in was darker and only light by the reflection of the light nearby.

"Are you another challenger?" Came a voice behind them.

Ivy and Jay and turned around and there in front of them was a young boy, probably the same age as them. He had darker skin and hair and his eyes were so narrow they almost looked like they were closed.

"Yes, can you tell us where the Gym Leader is?" Jay asked him.

"I'm the Gym Leader," The boy responded, stepping forward and saying, "I'm Forrest."

"_You're_ the Gym Leader?" Ivy gasped, "Aren't you a little young?"

Forrest frowned and said, "I took over the gym after my father and brother."

Jay and Ivy exchanged a glance before Ivy nodded and said, "Then I challenge you to a battle."

"Fine," Forrest moved past them and went over to his place. He turned back to her and said, "Whenever you're ready." A judge then came forward out of who knows where, taking his place.

"Right," she took a deep breath before stepping forward, gripping one of the pokeballs in her hand.

"This will be a one-on-one Pokemon Battle," The judge announced. "Begin!"

_I only have one option._

"Go, Charmander!" She cried as she released Charmander from its pokeball.

"Let's go, Steelix!"

"Steelix?" She gasped, taking out her Pokedex.

"_Steelix, the evolved form of Onix,_" Dexter said, "_Tempered underground under high pressure and heat, its body is harder than any steel._"

"Steelix is a steel type Pokemon," Jay said, "I thought this was a rock type gym?"

"It is," Forrest replied, "But this Steelix evolved from an Onix, so I'm not going to give up using it in battles just because it changed its type."

Jay muttered something that Ivy couldn't hear, but he then said, "Ivy, you're in luck. Fire is strong against steel type so you should be able to handle this."

"Alright," she nodded before saying louder, "Charmander use ember!"

"Steelix use sandstorm now!"

A sandstorm surrounded Steelix then, blocking out the ember attack that came its way. The sandstorm then surrounded the battlefield. Ivy held up her hand to cover her eyes as she struggled to see Charmander through the storm.

"Charmander, ember again!" She cried out. She saw a flash of light from Charmander's ember, but she had no idea if it hit Steelix.

"Steelix, use iron tail!"

Ivy couldn't do anything as she saw a flash of a tail and then Charmander as it flew out of the storm and landed next to her. "Charmander!" She exclaimed, rushing over to it. "Are you okay?"

"_Charr…_" Charmander murmured as it forced itself to stand up.

"Ivy, you have to do something about that sandstorm," Jay said from behind her, "Forrest is using that to hide Steelix!"

"I know! I just need to think!"

"You don't have time to think!" Jay snapped, "You have to decide _now_!"

_Think, think…if you can't see Steelix then you can't hit it. So how can you hit it indirectly…? _

"Of course!" She whispered. She then stood up and stepped away from Charmander as she instructed, "Charmander, use ember on the rocks!"

She watched then as Charmander's ember attack slammed against each rock. Suddenly, as the flames moved around to each rock, the sand started to turn a slight red color. She heard Steelix cry out and the sandstorm then diminished just enough so that she could see through it.

"Aim an ember attack straight ahead, Charmander!" She then said, the excitement and adrenaline from the battle starting to get to her.

Charmander did so as the flames headed straight towards Steelix and struck head on. It cried out again and the sandstorm disappeared completely. When Charmander stopped, the Pokemon stood there as if trying to recover from the hit. She was tempted to tell Charmander to strike again, but this time she knew better.

"Steelix, use iron tail on the ground!" Forrest then instructed.

_What?_

Recovered slightly, Steelix did so, bringing its tail down to the ground causing the whole building to shake as if there was an earth quake. A crevice formed in the middle of the arena making the tremors so bad that Ivy almost fell over and Charmander had to hold onto a boulder for support.

"Use Tackle, Steelix!" Forrest cried out again.

"Charmander, dodge!" Ivy shrieked, but it was too late. The large, steel Pokemon raced towards Charmander and slammed into it so hard it sent Charmander flying again.

"Charmander!" Ivy gasped, her hand reaching up towards Charmander as if she was hoping to catch it.

But it was hopeless. Charmander slammed against the ground with a _thud_! She stared at it, silently begging it to stand and after a few moments, she saw it move. Slowly it stood up again and once it was solid on its two feet, she noticed the flame on its tail start to get bigger. It was as if a new strength had taken over Charmander and now it was ready for everything.

"That's blaze," Jay told her, "It's Charmander's ability. When it becomes weak, that ability sometimes kicks in and the power of its attacks doubles."

"Seriously?" She gasped, staring at Jay before turning to Charmander with a new bit of convidence inside of her. "Alright, Charmander, attack one more time!"

A stronger flame came from Charmander this time and it struck Steelix head on. She waited as Charmander's ember attack dug into the Pokemon and silently she begged it to fall. She knew it was a strong Pokemon, but somehow luck was on her side this time.

And soon her prayers were answered as the large Pokemon fell to the ground-motionless.

"Steelix is unable to battle," The judge declared, "Charmander is the winner!"

"Yes!" Ivy shrieked, running forward and picking Charmander up, "We did it, Charmander, we did it!"

"_Charr! Charr!_" It cried out in happiness.

"Well done," Forrest said as he returned Steelix to its pokeball and came forward, "What you did with the sandstorm was smart, I didn't expect that."

"Thank you," she said, still holding onto Charmander.

"This Boulder Badge is yours," he continued, taking the same badge that Alex had shown her out of his pocket and handing it to her. "You deserve it."

"My first badge," She whispered, her eyes glowing as she took the badge. She then looked up at Forrest and said, "Thank you."

He nodded once and said, "Now let your Charmander rest, it deserves it too."

"Thank you," She added again before turning and heading back to where Jay was standing.

"Good job," Jay told her, a genuine smile on his face, "You were smart, for once."

"Thanks, Jay," she said with a laugh, ignoring the last part.

"Come on," he said then, starting to head towards the door. "Let's go and celebrate."

"Right," she agreed with a nod as she followed Jay, still holding Charmander in her arms.

_My first battle won…I don't know how I did it but I know I would've lost had it not been for Charmander._

Luck had been on her side this time, so she could only hope it would stay on her side for the rest of her journey.

A/N: It's not my best writing, but hopefully I didn't write the battle scene out too badly! Please review, thanks!


	10. Chapter 10: The Beauty of Cerulean

A/N: I made a trainer card for Aria so that you'll be able to know what she looks like. It's not the best since I'm pretty terrible at digital art (or any art for that matter), but this will at least give you a clue as to who she is.

I can't put the link up on here so all you have to do is go to the deviantart website, search for my name (Celynata) and you'll be able to see it there on my page.

Now, onto the story! Enjoy!

_Chapter 10: The Beauty of Cerulean_

**Aria**

"Totodile, I said _water gun_," Aria sighed as she sat in the backyard of the gym, watching her young Totodile swim around in one of the ponds. Totodile was clearly too young and inexperienced to start battling in her gym, but she was trying to train it as much as possible in her free time. Totodile had just recently hatched from the egg she had found when she was heading back from the Hoenn region and it was as troublesome as a young child.

"It's still young, Aria," Morty's voice came from behind her as she heard his footsteps come closer to her. "Give it time."

"I've given him enough time," she responded as he came over and sat down next to her.

"You've become more impatient," he murmured with the faintest smile. He then reached forward and picked Totodile out of the water. He set it on the ground and it immediately went over to Aria, settling in her lap.

She wrapped her arms around her Totodile as she said, "What's wrong with being impatient?"

"For a trainer-especially a gym leader-it's bad," he warned her, his brown eyes moving from Totodile and up to her face.

"Oh stop acting like that," she snapped at him. "You're acting just like you used to, as if you're superior to me."

Morty let out a long sigh at this before saying, "Oh Aria, please. You're just being stubborn. I know these times have been hard for you but you still have your duty as a gym leader."

"I didn't want this gym in the first place," she glared down at the ground as she gripped Totodile close to her. "I spent my whole life trying to get away from this place and now look at me. I'm the leader of it."

"If you didn't want it then why did you take the offer?" Morty questioned her. It didn't seem as if his question was judgmental but instead just plain curiousity.

"I needed something," she explained, still not looking at him but instead down at Totodile. It smiled up at her so she patted its head. "After losing Arcanine and then later on the Championship, I needed something I had claim to. Surely you can understand that."

He nodded once and said, "Of course. But Aria, you have to live with your decision now. You can't be miserable forever." He reached forward and held the pokeball that hung around Aria's neck. He then quickly let it go as if he thought he had pushed past his boundaries. "I'm sure Arcanine is safe, wherever it may be."

"I hope so," she whispered then. "I hope he's safe."

_I just wish he was here with me…_

**Ivy**

As Ivy and Jay made their way down the road that led to Cerulean City, Ivy held open her badge case as she stared down at her brand new Boulder Badge. She still couldn't believe the fact that she had won her first badge already. She knew that it had a lot to do with luck, but she also thought that perhaps it was her skill, too, that added to it. Either way, a badge was a badge, no matter how it was won. She wouldn't complain.

"You know you only won that out of luck," Jay said as he caught her staring at it again. "Had Charmander's ability not kicked in then you would have lost."

"Yes, but it did," she couldn't help but point out. "I'm not going to worry about the 'what if's."

"You should," he warned her. "Your next gym battle won't be as easy."

"Who said the first one was easy?" She challenged him, giving him a glare as she closed her badge case and put it away in her bag.

"Well, it was compared to your next challenges," he argued with her. He shook his head and continued, "You won't be able to rely on luck anymore."

"Oh why are you such a downer?" She groaned, but then sped up the pace and said, "Let's hurry up, we're almost there."

It only took them another half hour to get to Cerulean City and after being away for approximately two weeks, Ivy was glad to see her home again. She almost felt like a stranger when she walked through the city gates, but when she started to see familiar land marks, she knew she was home again. Of course, she loved being on her journey, but she couldn't deny how much she had missed Cerulean City.

"Come on! Hurry up, Jay!" She exclaimed as she ran ahead of him.

"Shouldn't we go to the gym first?" He suggested.

"I can't go to the gym before saying hello to my mom!" She cried over her shoulder.

Finally they came to her home. She ran up the steps of the porch and over to the door. She hesitated from barging right in and instead knocked on the door. As soon as she did, she saw her mother's Vaporeon come to the door, letting out a pleasing sound.

"A Vaporeon," Jay gasped, taking out his Pokedex. "I didn't know you had a Vaporeon."

"This is my mother's," she explained as she opened the door and let Vaporeon out onto the porch. She smiled and petted its head as she listened to Dexter's explanation.

"_Vaporeon, one of the seven Eevee evolutions when evolved from a water stone. It has evolved to be suitable for an aquatic life and can become invisible in water._"

"This is your _mother's_ Vaporeon?" He stared at her in shock before looking down at Vaporeon. "To think how strong it is!" He gasped then. "I've seen it in some of your mother's old battles – it's extraordinary!"

"Why thank you, Jay," came another voice. "It took Vaporeon and I a long time to get to that kind of strength."

Ivy looked up then as she saw her mother open the door and come out to the porch. "Mom!" she exclaimed, hugging her tightly.

"Oh it's so good to see you again, Ivy," she said, letting her go as she then asked, "So what kinds of Pokemon do you have?"

"Oh, I only have two right now," Ivy explained. "I have a Charmander and a Magikarp right now."

"A Charmander? I'm sure that was an excellent choice," her mother nodded once before saying, "But you do know that Magikarp can't do much?"

"Of course I know that!" She exclaimed, her face turning slightly red that her mother was pointing out her incompetence in front of Jay (though she knew he probably thought she was incompetent already). "I'm trying to train it into a Gyarados."

"That's very hard to do," she warned her.

"I know that," Ivy frowned slightly and continued, "But you did it, so I'm sure I can too."

Her mother was silent for a moment but then changed the subject as she said, "Well, you two should come inside, I'm sure you're hungry!"

"Oh, thank you," Jay said, glancing at Ivy once before walking into the house as Ivy and Vaporeon followed.

"So Jay," Ivy's mother said as she started to make some sandwiches in the kitchen, "Ivy tells me you're trying to become a Pokemon Researcher, is that correct?"

"Yes, it is," Jay responded as both he and Ivy sat down at the table. "My parents are both researchers for Professor Oak and they thought I'd learn best going on a journey."

"Are you earning badges?" She continued on with her questions, setting a plate in front of Ivy and then Jay.

"No," he shook his head. "I don't see why I would."

"Battling will help you learn more about Pokemon," Ivy's mother told him gently, sitting down in front of him and next to Ivy who was already eating her sandwich.

"Well, I can battle without earning badges," he said with a shrug. "Anyways, my parents say that I should focus on my research and not my battles. I've even been sketching Pokemon in the process of my journey."

"You sketch Pokemon?" Ivy and her mother said this at the same time, but her mother then asked, "May I see them?"

"Of course," He said, giving Ivy a look before he bent down to where his bag sat on the floor next to him and brought out a beige-colored sketch book. He handed it to her as he slowly began to eat.

"Oh I like this one," She said then as she looked through. She showed it to Ivy and said, "Ivy, don't you think that one is precious?"

Ivy looked up from her sandwich and studied the picture. "Hey, that's me and Charmander!" She exclaimed, recognizing herself and her own Pokemon. It was a picture of them when they were training; she had her arm extended as she pointed at something that was out of the picture and her mouth was open as she shouted out a command. Charmander was using its ember attack and you could almost see the flame heading towards the object in the picture. She remembered it had been a rock and they had been working on Charmander's aim.

"Don't flatter yourself too much," Jay muttered between bites. "You're only in the picture because it looked better with something behind Charmander."

"Gee, thanks a lot," she said sarcastically, giving him a flat look.

"I think it's sweet," Ivy's mother said, looking back at the sketch before flipping to another one.

"_Sweet_?" Ivy and Jay exclaimed incredulously at the same time.

"No way," Ivy continued. "Jay can hardly say a single thing that is nice to me."

"That's because you're always yelling at me," Jay shot back at her.

"Because you bother me!"

"Well you bother me!"

"Good!"

"Oh Ivy," Her mother cut in then, rolling her eyes before saying, "You should stop arguing with that poor boy and go to the gym."

"Why are you siding with _him_?" She exclaimed.

"Just go, Ivy," she gave her a flat look. "I'm sure Misty is waiting for you. Anyway, you still have to explain to her what you did to that bike."

"It wasn't my fault!"

"Ivy, please go," Her mother continued, giving her another look before Ivy finally relented.

"Fine," she took one last bite of her sandwich before grabbing her bag and running out the door with Jay as she called over her shoulder, "I'll see you later, Mom!" Before heading towards the gym.


	11. Chapter 11: To Be or Not To Be

_Chapter 11: To Be or Not To Be_

**Ivy**

"It's felt like centuries since I've been here," Ivy breathed as she walked through the doors of the Cerulean Gym.

"Did you go here often?" Jay asked her, looking around the lobby they had just entered.

"Oh yeah," she nodded, thinking back on all of her days at the gym. "Before I went on my journey, I started helping out Misty with some of the gym chores. She never let me watch her battles though. I guess she didn't want me learning her battle style or something."

"Well, you would be at an unfair advantage because you would know how she battled," Jay pointed out.

"I guess you're right," she nodded once before calling out, "Misty? Are you here?"

"_Psyy?_" Came a response making Ivy look down and see Psyduck waddling towards them.

"Hi, Psyduck," she said, giving it a kind smile.

"_Psy?_" It grabbed its head and tilted its head slightly to the side like it always did.

"What's wrong with that Psyduck?" Jay asked her then as he bent down to examine it. "It looks sort of…"

"Clueless?" Ivy filled in the word he was looking for. "That's just Psyduck; it's always been that way."

"Oh Psyduck, there you are," Misty's voice came then as she ran over and picked up Psyduck. "If you keep running around like this you're going to give _me_ a headache." Then she paused as she looked up from Psyduck and saw Ivy and Jay standing there in front of her."Oh, and Ivy!" She smiled kindly at the younger trainer. "It's so good to see you again."

"You too, Misty," Ivy smiled before adding, "Oh yeah, and this is Jay."

"Nice to meet you," Misty said with a slight nod. "You must be on a Pokemon journey similar to Ivy, right?"

"Yes, I am," Jay nodded, putting his hands behind his back as he said, "But I'm not collecting badges, that's just Ivy."

"That must mean you're here for a gym battle," Misty smiled at this. Then she paused and added, "Oh, but first things first. Do you have my bike?"

"Oh, right….that," Ivy glanced over at Jay once before back at Misty. She hesitated before finally explaining, "Well, you see, your bike sort of got…"

"It got burnt to a crisp because of Ivy's Charmander," Jay finished her sentence bluntly.

"Hey!" She turned to him, fist rising, as she yelled, "It was your fault in the first place!"

"No it wasn't!" Jay shot back. "It was your Charmander who burnt it!"

"But it was your Bulbasaur who attacked Charmander in the first place!"

"It's not my fault that the bike got in the way!"

"And it's not my fault that you can't control your Bulbasaur!"

"I can too!"

"No you can't!"

"Okay, okay!" Misty exclaimed, trying to settle them down. She then gave an awkward laugh as she said, "It isn't the first time that bike got destroyed. I hardly use it anymore anyways."

"So you're not mad?" Ivy asked.

"No I'm not mad," Misty smiled as she put Psyduck down on the ground. "Now let's battle!"

…..

"This will be a two-on-two Pokemon Battle between the Gym Leader, Misty, and Pokemon Trainer Ivy," The judge declared. "Let the battle begin!"

"Now Ivy, don't think I'm going to go easy on you," Misty called from across the pool. She pulled out a pokeball and continued, "So you better be ready. Let's go, Politoed!"

"_Politoed! Politoed_!" It cried out as it made a little dance on one of the platforms in the pool.

"A Politoed?" Ivy echoed. "What's that?" She brought out Pokedex, then, to examine it.

"_Politoed, one of the evolved forms of Poliwhirl. It gathers groups of others as their leader and its cries make Poliwag obey._"

"Be careful, Ivy," Jay told her from the sidelines. "That Politoed looks strong and you don't have any Pokemon that are good against water types."

"I know what I'm doing, Jay!" She snapped at him once before turning back to Misty. She took in a deep breath before releasing her Pokeball and crying, "Go, Charmander!"

"_Charr!_" It cried out, letting out an ember attack as if trying to show off its strength, before looking at its opponent from the other side of the pool.

"Politoed, into the water, now!" Misty ordered then, not wasting any time on starting the battle.

The Politoed disappeared into the water then, causing Ivy more grief than she needed. At least in the Pewter Gym there wasn't many places for a Pokemon to hide, but now Politoed could be anywhere in this gym with all the water that there was. She was at a clear disadvantage, but maybe she would be able to luck out again.

"Uhh…" She struggled to figure out what to do then as she stared at the water, trying to find where Politoed was. But it was futile when Misty called out her next command.

"Water gun, now!"

A water gun attack then shot out from somewhere in the pool, slamming into Charmander and almost causing it to fall into the water. Thankfully, though, it landed near the edge and managed not to fall over the side. But either way that one hit was enough to knock it out.

"Charmander!" She cried, jumping over to the platform Charmander was on and kneeling down beside it.

"Charmander is unable to battle," The judge declared then. "Politoed is the winner."

"Good job, Charmander," Ivy whispered, taking out Charmander's pokeball. "You should rest now."

"Choose your next Pokemon, Ivy," Misty told her as her Politoed jumped out of the water and onto one of the platforms. It did its little dance again before clapping a few times.

"Ivy, you should just forfeit now," Jay suggested as Ivy made her way back to her own spot. "You don't have a chance."

"I'm not forfeiting," Ivy muttered. "I have more pride than that." She sent a silent prayer then before releasing her next Pokemon. "Good luck, Magikarp."

"A Magikarp?" Misty questioned, looking at the Pokemon as it floated in the water. "Don't you have another Pokemon?"

"No, not really," Ivy rubbed the back of her neck before standing up straight and saying, "But I'm not giving in."

"Alright, Ivy," Misty sighed once before calling out another command. "Politoed, use headbutt!"

"Uh, Magikarp go underwater!" Ivy shouted out, slowly starting to panic as she realized Magikarp's horrible chances. _Maybe I shouldn't have caught it in the first place…_

But thankfully it dived into the water, barely missing the headbutt attack. Ivy let out a sigh of relief, but her relief did not last long as Misty called out her next command.

"Politoed, go under water and use your tackle attack."

_Uh oh…_

There was absolutely nothing she could do. She was frozen from panic as she saw Politoed dive into the water and head straight towards Magikarp. She heard Jay shout something out at her, but she couldn't hear it. All she heard was Magikarp's cry as Politoed slammed straight into it, causing it to fly out of the water and land hard onto the platform in front of Ivy. Ivy didn't even have to look to know that Magikarp had horribly lost that battle.

"Magikarp is unable to battle," she heard then. "Gym Leader Misty is the winner!"

"I'm sorry, Magikarp," Ivy whispered as she returned it to its pokeball. "I know I've failed you."

"Maybe you should train your Pokemon more, Ivy," Misty suggested as she stepped off the platform and back onto the sidelines. Her Politoed followed her. "Or get some more Pokemon, and when you're ready you can come back." She disappeared through one of the doors, then, her Politoed dancing along beside her.

There was only silence then as Ivy remained on the platform, staring down at the water in front of her. She remembered the many times she had stared at this battlefield, eagerly waiting for the day where she could face Misty in battle, but she had failed miserably. She knew Misty was a strong trainer, but she had never expected that she had been that strong. Then again, maybe Ivy was just miserably weak.

"Ivy…" Jay walked over to her to the pool.

"Just don't say anything, Jay," she told him quietly. "I don't want to hear it right now."

"I wasn't-"

"I'll see you later," she didn't let him finish whatever he was going to say as she made her way to the door. She didn't hear Jay follow her as she walked out of the room and to the only place where she could get her thoughts straight.

…

Cerulean Cape was a beautiful place. Ivy remembered the many times she used to come here as a child and stare out at the ocean, thinking of the many places in the world that she was determined to see. Three weeks ago, a week before she started on her journey, Ivy had stood at the edge of the cape, imagining all of the kinds of things she would be able to see when she finally set out on her journey. She had never imagined how difficult it would become.

_What was I kidding; I have no chance of becoming a Pokemon Master. I've lost so many battles… I only earned that Boulder Badge because I got lucky. Maybe I shouldn't have set out on my journey so soon…_

Both of her Pokemon had been taken out with one hit from that Politoed. Even if they had survived after one hit, she had no idea if she would have been able to win. She probably would have lost anyways because of how badly she had begun to panic near the end. She couldn't even do anything for poor Magikarp who stood no chance to begin with. She felt sorry for the poor thing; it got stuck with an awful trainer.

Sitting down at the edge of the cape, she took out her badge case and opened it up, seeing her single badge shining back at her. She didn't feel proud of that badge anymore, she felt ashamed. She had won out of luck; not talent, not skill, not strength, but sheer luck. She didn't deserve that badge and that badge didn't deserve her. She closed the badge case then, closing her eyes tightly as she felt a certain anger well up inside of her. She was tempted to throw that case out into the ocean and she almost did, but a voice stopped her.

"I finally found you," Jay's voice came from behind her. She opened her eyes and looked up as she saw him come up beside her, sitting down on the ground with her. "Your mother said you'd most likely be here."

"What are you doing here?" She asked with a rough bitterness in her voice. "Are you going to lecture me now? Because I'm really not in the mood."

"No, I'm not going to lecture you," he told her, his voice for once calm and friendly. "I wanted to see how you were."

She looked over at him again, studying his face once before asking, "Why?"

"Because you looked upset and that's the genuine thing to do," He answered simply with a careless shrug.

"Oh gee, because I thought it might be something out of friendship," Ivy shot back at him sarcastically, turning away from him.

"And that too," he murmured quietly.

She glanced back at him, this time more surprised than she had been originally. But instead of thanking him for his concern, she just looked back down at the badge case in her hands as she said, "Yeah, well, you didn't need to come."

Jay sighed, quiet for a moment before saying, "It's just one gym loss, Ivy. You'll have other battles."

"No, it's not just one gym loss," her bitterness returned as she glared down at the badge case. "It's a collection of losses. The only real battle that I won was won out of luck. What does that say about me as a trainer? You're always saying that I'm not experienced enough; well, maybe you're right."

"You can't give up, Ivy," he told her then suddenly. Though she had suggested nothing about giving up being a trainer, he somehow seemed to sense that she was thinking that.

"Why not?" She shot back. "I'm no good as a trainer; maybe I'll find something else to do."

Jay was silent again, staring out at the ocean before back at her. Finally he stood up and said, "Just think about it," before turning around and walking away. She didn't bother in calling him back because she knew that there was nothing else for him to say. He couldn't change her mind; she had to make this decision on her own. Either she kept working on becoming a trainer, or she gave up now. She wanted to become the best trainer there was, but was it worth it if she didn't have the skill nor talent that it takes?

_To be a trainer or not to be a trainer… this is the decision that I have to make. And no one can make it for me._


	12. Chapter 12: When It Becomes Too Much

_Chapter 12: When It Becomes Too Much_

**Jay**

"Come on, get up."

Jay let out a grunt as he felt something slam into his side. He opened his eyes and looked up, seeing a blurry figure standing above him. He reached towards his glasses, putting them on and looking up again this time to see Ivy. Her brown eyes stared down at him expectantly, waiting for him to listen to her command.

"Why? What are we doing?" He asked her as he slowly sat up in his sleeping bag that was on the floor in Ivy's room. He glanced over at the window, noting that it was just barely dawn. _She better have a good reason for it._

"If we want to get to the next gym we have to get moving," Ivy told him, moving over to her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

"_Now_?" He asked incredulously. "It's barely dawn!"

"So?" She turned back to him. "I need to get to Vermillion City so unless you want to stay here with my mom and waste time away, I'm going."

"Wait, why Vermillion City?" He asked her. "What about the Cerulean Gym?"

"Misty's too advanced, I can't defeat her now," Ivy explained. "I'll come back when I'm ready." She paused once before adding, "Now get ready, we need to go."

"Alright, slow down for a second okay?" He started to get up, rolling up his sleeping bag. "Just give me a few minutes and I'll be ready."

"Fine," Was all she said as she turned and walked out of the room.

Jay sighed as he watched her go; what had gotten into her lately? He knew that she was still shaken up by her defeat in the Cerulean Gym, but why was she acting so…serious now? It was just one gym battle she would have other ones later on. He would give anything to be in her position, to battle against gym leaders and earn badges, so why was she being such a baby over it?

_But you don't need badges if you're going to become a researcher_, He told himself for the millionth time. His parents were right, he didn't need to gain badges, all he had to do was to learn more about Pokemon and since he was traveling with another trainer, he was in a better position to do that. It was all logical, even traveling with Ivy was logical. Sure, she was frustrating and acted like a child half the time, but the more people he was with the more Pokemon he saw and learned about. Especially since he would be watching how they battled with each gym battle she went for. It was all based on logic.

When he finally got changed and had all of his stuff together, he went downstairs where Ivy was waiting with her mom who was still in her pajamas and robe. Her Vaporeon was sitting down next to where she stood next to Ivy, its eyes staring up at Jay with an unknown knowledge.

"Alright, I'll call you when we get to Vermillion," Ivy told her mother.

"Be careful," Mrs. Loretta told her, forcing a smile on her face. "And don't push yourself too much."

"Sure," Ivy simply said before running out the door, not bothering to wait for Jay.

"Thanks for letting me stay," Jay told Mrs. Loretta before turning and heading for the door. Suddenly, though, he felt a hand grip his wrist, keeping him in place. He turned his head and saw Ivy's mother standing there, her blue eyes desperate and pleading.

"Please take care of her," she whispered. "She'll keep fighting until she has nothing left; please don't let that happen to her."

"I…" he couldn't seem to talk, the words he wanted to say were bunched up in his throat.

"Ivy's so desperate to prove herself," she continued. "She feels she has to be the best trainer there is just because of who I am, even if she's terribly unhappy. She'll do anything to do that, even if it involves putting her and her Pokemon in harm's way." Her grip on his wrist tightened. "Please take care of her."

"I will," He promised after a slight pause, trying to process her words. Maybe Ivy's actions were starting to make sense now. But finally she let go of him, her hand falling to her side. She gave him a small nod before he turned and left, following Ivy to their next destination.

…

**Aria**

"Rhyperior, use Drill Run," Aria called out carelessly.

As commanded, her Rhyperior headed straight towards the other trainer's Graveler. The battle was finished before the trainer could do anything to help save his Graveler. Aria sighed as she heard Morty call the battle in her favor and she returned her Rhyperior to its pokeball. She was sick of battling mediocre trainers, when would one show up that was worth her time?

"Return, Graveler," The trainer said, returning his injured Pokemon to its pokeball. He sighed then, staring down at the pokeball in his hands; you could see the utter disappointment in his eyes. After all, this was the gym that trainers chose to battle last so that they could gain their last badge. They were usually crushed by disappointment and forced to battle another gym so that they could go to the Pokemon League.

"Try another gym," Aria suggested as she moved across the field and over to the trainer. She recalled that his name had been Noah. "You still have time, after all, before the competition." Most trainers usually competed for the Indigo League Competition before challenging the Elite Four and the Champion. She remembered that she had gotten into the Top 4 when she was still traveling and after that she had gone for the Silver Conference in Johto and ranked in the Top 2 (unfortunately she lost the final battle). After that she went for the Championship and, thankfully, won.

"I know, but…" Noah sighed again before looking at her with light gray eyes. He couldn't be more than 14 years old. "This was the battle that was going to decide whether I stuck with becoming a Pokemon Trainer or I moved on."

"Well, you must have seven gym badges, surely you're not too terrible," she told him, trying to be positive (for once) instead of insulting him.

"No, this would be my fourth," he explained, looking down at the pokeball in his hands again. "And the other badges I have I usually got out of luck. I knew this was a hard gym but…I don't know. Maybe in some way I wanted to lose and just go back home."

"That's ridiculous," Morty's voice came from behind Aria then. He came up to them and stood next to her, staring down at the trainer with brown eyes. "Aria's a very experienced trainer and is the toughest Gym Leader in the region; you can't judge your ability in a battle where you didn't have much of a chance."

"But I _know_ I'm not a good Pokemon Trainer," Noah argued, shaking his head. "Whenever I try and battle I start getting so nervous because I just don't know what I'm doing. And if I start losing then I panic and I can't recover."

Morty was silent for a moment before finally he said, "Well, why don't you train here?"

"What?" Aria and Noah said simultaneously.

"You could become a Gym Trainer," Morty explained, "And Aria could teach you."

"Me? Teach?" Aria gave Morty a look. "I hardly have the patience for it. Anyways, I don't _teach_ people how to battle. If they can't battle then they can't battle."

"You don't have to teach him just about battling," Morty said, turning to her. "You could teach him about Pokemon too. He could learn by taking care of your Pokemon that stay here."

"Well…" she hesitated, not wanting to say no right in front of Noah's face.

"What do you say?" Morty didn't wait for her to answer and instead turned back to Noah.

"I…I mean, if you don't mind, Aria," he looked at her then, his eyes round and desperate. "I would really love to learn as much as possible from you. It would be an honor."

"Well I-"

"She'd love to," Morty answered for her, ignoring her fierce glare. "Anyways, I'll help out too before I have to get back to Ecruteak, so you won't have to deal with her all by yourself."

"_Deal with her_?" She repeated fiercely.

Morty ignored her again before saying to Noah, "Why don't you go phone your family and explain to them what you're going to do. That way if they want to visit you they can."

"Oh…right," Noah nodded before running off, leaving Morty and Aria alone in the battlefield.

"What were you thinking?!" Aria finally yelled once Noah was gone.

"You need to start acting on your duties," Morty answered her calmly, turning to her, "And the best way to do that is to get another trainer here."

"But I can't teach him about Pokemon," she argued. "I can't teach him about anything! I don't _teach_ people I _battle _people."

"Then it'll be a new experience for you," he responded coolly. He then sighed before adding, "Just do this, okay Aria? It'll be better for the both of you. Anyways, maybe having someone else around here might lift your spirits up a bit."

"I think my spirits are lifted enough with just you here," Aria muttered sarcastically, but didn't bother to argue. She couldn't say no to the kid now, not when he was already off telling his family that he was going to be trained by Aria Giovanni. Which really was an accomplishment all on its own.

But she had to give Morty some credit too; he knew the exact way to set this up. He knew the moment he laid eyes on Noah that he wasn't experienced enough to fight against Aria, but he let him battle her so that he would get disappointed when he lost. Then he got his hopes up by offering him a position in the gym and since Aria wasn't a completely awful person she didn't have the heart to deny him once he started to hope that his dreams might actually come true. And then to top it all off, Morty had him go call his family so that even if she was still going to say no, she couldn't anymore since she didn't want to crush his parents' hopes and dreams too.

_How come he has to be so damn smart all of the time?_

Oh well. There was nothing she could do now. Hopefully the kid would hold some promise so she wouldn't totally regret this decision.


	13. Chapter 13: The Things You Can't Control

_Chapter 13: The Things You Can't Control_

**Ivy**

Things were different now. She didn't know if it had been a gradual change that she didn't notice or if it had happened all at once when she had been brutally beaten by Misty, but she knew it was different. There was something inside of her; a deep, bitter resentment that had settled at the pit of her stomach and now controlled her very actions. She refused to lose anymore, to be humiliated like she had been so many times. She couldn't be a child any longer because if she was ever going to match the expectations of being Amy Loretta's daughter then she had to grow up and start working.

She knew that Jay couldn't understand her motives, though, because as they walked along the path to Vermillion City, he hung behind her, staring groggily at the back of her head. The sun was still lying across the horizon and there were hardly any trainers about because of how early it was. The two trainers stayed silent, though, until Jay finally spoke up.

"We're not going to get to Vermillion until another day or two," he said from behind her. "I don't understand why you thought an extra few hours would do any good."

"It gives us an extra few hours closer to Vermillion," Ivy responded sharply. "If you didn't want to go right now then why did you come with me?"

"Well it's not like I was about to stay there with your mother," he replied, an edge of annoyance seeping into his tone.

"Maybe you should've," she muttered. "Then I wouldn't have to listen to you complaining all the time."

"Complaining?" Jay stopped in his tracks, glaring at her. She stopped also, turning half way to meet his glare. "I spoke up once! If it's anyone who complains it's you."

"Me?" Her voice rose from anger. "Well I'm sorry that I have to speak my mind a few times, especially when you criticize every move I make!"

"I criticize it because it's stupid!" He argued against her, his voice rising with hers. "But I'd rather you go back to the way you acted before you lost to Misty than how you're acting now. I mean, geez, why are you taking that loss so personally!"

"It's nothing you can understand," she snapped at him. "It's not like you've been in any battles!"

"I don't need to be," he replied, his tone becoming flat as if what he was saying had been drilled into his brain numerous times. "I'm going to be a Researcher; I don't need to learn how to battle."

"And you say I sound idiotic," she scoffed, crossing her arms.

"You know what? I'm sick of this," he threw up his arms and turned his back to her. "You're on your own now; I'm not dealing with this any longer."

"Fine!" She shouted after him as he started to walk away. "Go! I don't want you here anyways!"

She glared at his retreating figure until she could no longer see him. Once he was gone from site she let out a long sigh, something like sadness sparkling in her eyes. But the she shook her head fiercely, the sad look turning into one of forced determination as she turned around and started heading forward again.

_I don't need him, _she told herself silently. _I don't need anyone. I can do this entirely on my own._

She went along like this for a while. She didn't know how long she had been walking alone until she finally began to feel lonely. She stopped in her tracks, staring down at the ground and suddenly missing Jay's judgmental comments for a change. But that was ridiculous, she knew it was, so she pushed the thought of Jay out of her mind and instead took out one of her pokeballs, releasing Charmander.

"_Charr…_" It yawned and stretched before looking up at her with an expression that said, _I was sleeping, you know._

"Sorry Charmander," she sighed, not in the mood for arguing with her Pokemon this day. "Why don't you walk with me, it'll be good for you to be out of your pokeball."

Charmander gave her a hesitant look before nodding once and following alongside her as she began to walk. It only took a few minutes, though, until something happened.

Charmander had been walking ahead of her when it happened. It was a trap she figured she should have noticed as a trainer, but since she had been too caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't even see it. Something came up from under Charmander's feet and entrapped it inside of itself. Charmander let out a shocked cry and Ivy froze, staring in shock and horror as she saw her Pokemon standing inside of a small, metal cage.

"Charmander!" She cried out, reaching forward as she ran to it, but before she could reach Charmander someone's foot came out from the bushes nearby, tripping her and making her fall to the ground.

She let out a gasp as she felt her body meet the ground and she lay there stunned for a moment before finally looking up. Two people stood next to the cage Charmander was in; one was a man and the other a woman, but with the sun in her eyes Ivy couldn't tell what they looked like.

"Thanks for the gift, trainer," the woman said as she bent down and picked up the cage Charmander was in which caused it to let out an angry cry as it slammed against the metal bars, desperate to get out. "I was worried that trap wouldn't work, but it seems you were dumb enough to fall into it. Or rather, your Pokemon to fall into to it." She laughed, her laugh being cruel and high pitched.

"This will be a good one for the boss," the man replied, talking mostly to the woman and acting as if Ivy wasn't even there. He poked the cage, retracting his hand quickly, though, before Charmander could bite it. Then, finally, he glanced down at Ivy who was still on the ground, as he said, "What should we do about her?"

"Oh, I have a plan."

From these words Ivy could see her lift up her free hand – the other one still holding onto the cage – and pressing a button on a remote she was holding. Just as she did so, something erupted at the top of a hill that was right next to the road they were on. When Ivy looked over, she saw the ground rip apart at the edge of the hill, causing rocks and boulders to roll down the hill.

It only took Ivy a few seconds to realize that they were heading right towards her. But as she noticed this, the panic set in and froze her limbs. She couldn't move, she couldn't even breathe, and so she remained in the path of the boulders, awaiting her doom.

….

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I've written a chapter, I've been real busy. But here's a quick little chapter with a nice cliff-hanger at the end to keep you interested! So stay tuned and we'll have to see what happens to Ivy in the next chapter. **


	14. Chapter 14: Lights Will Guide You Home

_Chapter 14: Lights Will Guide You Home_

**Iris**

She didn't know what it was, but the moment she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable, she felt something strong wrap around her waist and pull her quickly out of the path of the boulder. She was suspended in the air for a moment before slamming down back onto the ground, the breath knocked out of her. She struggled to breathe and her eyes were round from panic until the breath slammed back into her and she let out a gasp. She lay on the ground then, not doing anything but staring up at the sky and wondering what just happened.

"What were you thinking?" A voice said. The voice seemed to register with her, but still in a mode of panic she couldn't detect who it was. Finally a face came into her view as the person stared down at her, frustration, anger, and a deep sense of worry in his face. It was then that she noticed it was Jay.

"Jay?" She gasped out, staring up at the face. Surely this wasn't real; there was no chance that he had come back to her nor saved her life.

"Come on," he grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. The moment he let go of her, though, her legs gave out on her and he had to catch her quickly so that she wasn't on the ground again.

He held onto her arm to give her supportas she asked, "Why….why are you here?"

"It doesn't matter why I'm here," he told her.

"But you saved me," she murmured.

"Bulbasaur saved you," he corrected, glancing down at his Pokemon who was still staring at Ivy with a sense of dissatisfaction.

"Oh," she looked down at Bulbasaur. "Thank you, Bulbasaur." But of course, it ignored her and simply walked back over to Jay.

It was then that she remembered. _Charmander…where is it?_ She looked over at where she had seen the two people before but they and Charmander were nowhere to be seen.

"Where did they go?" She straightened up and stumbled away from Jay. "I need to find them. Where did they go?"

"I don't know, I was mostly paying attention to getting you out of the way of those boulders."

"Charmander…" she whispered, staring ahead at the road, her eyes starting to well up with tears. Now she understood the deep impact a Pokemon could have on you. Sure, Charmander was a little moody and wasn't always keen to battle, but Charmander had been her first Pokemon and now…she couldn't think of life without it. But because of those crooks, Charmander was now gone.

Suddenly, then, the sadness and hopelessness she had been feeling since her defeat at the Cerulean Gym disappeared and was now replaced by a deep-rooted anger mixed with determination. She wiped away a tear that fell down her cheek and said bitterly to no one in particular, "I'm not letting them get away with this."

"But what will you do?" Jay asked. "They're already gone, there's no way to tell where they went to."

Ivy, though, already had a plan in mind. She moved her way around some of the fallen rocks and boulders before looking out towards the woods that the road led to.

"If we can find out where they stopped, we can catch up to them," she turned to him then and continued, "And we can use your Yanma to find out how far away they are."

"You may be on to something," He murmured. Then after a slight moment he added, "For once."

"Just do it," she told him, not bothering in arguing with him today.

"Right," he pulled out Yanma's pokeball and called out, "Let's go, Yanma."

"_Yann,_" It cried as it was released from its pokeball. It stayed in the air in front of Jay, waiting for an order.

"Yanma," he told it, "Go and find out where Charmander is and report back to us when you've found it and the people who took it."

"_Yan!_" It cried again, nodding once before flying off quickly into the trees ahead.

"Come on," Ivy then said as Yanma flew off. "Let's follow this road until Yanma comes back."

"Alright," Jay nodded. "If we're lucky, we'll find them."

"It's not just if we're lucky," Ivy murmured as they set off. "We _have_ to find them."

….

**Misty**

"So they just…ran off?"

"Yes. Before dawn…Oh Misty, I'm just so worried about her."

Misty stared at the worried face of Amy Loretta. It was so odd for her to see such a strong Pokemon trainer be in such a state as Amy was now, especially from seeing video after video of Amy's battles when she was an Elite Four member. No matter the circumstances she had always stayed calm and composed, never once panicking from the sight of futile defeat. That was what made her so powerful back before she had Ivy; she accepted winning and welcomed loss. She was always known for saying, "I welcome losing. Losing gives me something to learn, to work on. If one doesn't lose every now and then, we become more ignorant than when we first began."

_I wish she had said that to her own daughter. Ivy looked so distraught…_

"She's just having a hard time," Misty tried to explain. "I'm sure whenever she comes back she'll be much better."

"I hope so," Amy stared at the Gym Leader, her eyes filled with sadness. "I just hate seeing her like this. She has always lived under the expectation that she has to be as good as I was. I thought it was cute when she was younger, when she always boasted that she would 'be as strong as her mom'…but now I've seen that it's just brought her down."

"She's expecting too much out of herself," Misty nodded in understanding.

"Yes," Amy looked down at her folded hands. "And I just wish she would see that herself."

"She will," Misty set her hand on top of Amy's. "If she's half the trainer I think she is, she will."

…..

**Iris**

"They're across this river?" Ivy said in disbelief as she stared at the wide river ahead in front of her.

Yanma nodded as it floated above Ivy and Jay. It flew in front of them and then signaled towards smoke that was rising in the air.

"That's where they are?" Jay questioned it, staring up at his Pokemon.

"_Yanma," _It said with a nod as it tried to get something across to Jay by using movements and sounds.

Jay nodded slowly as he processed all Yanma was telling him. Finally he said, "I think Yanma's saying that they're in some sort of cabin behind those trees. But we have to cross this river first and the bridge that had initially been here was destroyed somehow."

"They probably destroyed it so that we couldn't follow them," Ivy murmured before turning to stare down at the water.

"The current's too strong for us," Jay said.

_But I have to get across, I have to get Charmander. If I just leave it with those crooks…then I would be betraying it as its trainer. And as my friend._

"We would need a Water Pokemon to even attempt to get across," Jay continued as he stared out at the water ahead.

That's when the idea hit her.

"Well," She pulled out one of her pokeballs and held it in front of them. "We have one."

"_Magikarp?_" Jay said incredulously. "Look, I know you want to get Charmander back, but I don't think we should put all our trust into Magikarp. There must be another way."

"There is no other way," Ivy argued. She then said, "Come on out, Magikarp."

When she released it from its pokeball, Magikarp sat comfortably in the water, staring dully up at her.

"Magikarp," she knelt down, staring into Magikarp's blank eyes. "I need you right now." She paused for a moment before saying, "Do you remember all the times we practiced together?" _Even though it wasn't many._

"_Karp._"

She took this as a yes.

"Well," she took in a deep breath and continued, "I need you to use all that practice right now, Magikarp. Charmander is in trouble and we need to help it." Her eyes started to become watery again and her vision blurred slightly as she thought of all of the horrible things those crooks might do to Charmander. "Please Magikarp. You're my only hope."

It stared up at her for a second, its eyes still dull and blank. But then, suddenly, its eyes narrowed and its blank look changed into one of determination. It gave a nod and a loud, "_Karp!_"

"Really?" She breathed, relieved and surprised that Magikarp would actually do this for her.

But instead of saying anything, it stared at her and for some reason, she felt she knew what it was trying to say. _I'm ready_, it seemed to say. And she knew it was right.

"Alright," she stood up and turned to Jay, "Magikarp's ready."

"But Magikarp can't pull both of us," Jay argued. "It's impossible, it's not strong enough."

"Maybe not," a small smile crept up on her face then. "But I have an idea."

"Oh yeah?" Jay asked skeptically. "And what's that?"

"Well," she turned and bent down to get some rope she carried around in her bag. She remembered that she had been tempted to throw it out when her mother gave it to her, but decided against it out of the small chance she might need it. Well, now she did. "If we use this rope and try and swim with Magikarp, we can all use our strength to get us all across."

Jay was silent for a moment as he watched her pull out the rope and tie it around Magikarp. Finally he said, "It might work."

"There's nothing else to do but try," Ivy handed him the other end of the rope. "Let's go."

Since there was only one end to the rope, Ivy and Jay ended up being tied together but with enough room so that they could use their limbs to push through the water. When they finally slipped into the water, they could feel the immediate tug of the current. It wasn't that bad by the shoreline so that even Magikarp could handle it, but she knew that once they got out in the middle of the river it would start to get rougher.

"Alright," she said. "Let's go."

Magikarp stared forward then, a new pulse of energy going through the normally weak Pokemon. With Magikarp, Jay and Ivy moved against the current and slowly they made their way across the river. But when they started to get to the worst of it, Ivy could feel themselves slowly slip downstream.

"We have to push harder," she cried over the current. "Magikarp, you need to pull harder."

From up ahead of her, she could just barely see Magikarp's eyes narrow in concentration and it pushed harder against the current. As she watched her Pokemon, she felt something well up inside of her. It seemed to be admiration by Magikarp's new show of courage and strength, but also at how loyal Magikarp was to her.

_It's doing this all for me…They both do everything for me…I won't let them down._

It seemed like ages until they finally reached the other side. Jay and Ivy pulled themselves out of the water and onto the grass, gasping for breath. Then Ivy slowly sat up and picked Magikarp out of the water and into her lap. She untied the rope and petted its head.

"Thank you, Magikarp," she whispered. "You were great."

"_Magi…karp…_" It breathed, its eyes half closed and a clear look of exhaustion on its face. She returned it to its pokeball then before looking over at Jay.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah," he slowly sat up, gasping for air and dripping wet much like she was. "I'm alright."

"Then let's go," she said, standing up and waiting for Jay to do the same.

As he got up, though, she saw something flit across the side of her vision. She turned and looked towards the looming woods, her eyes finally falling on a shadow that hung behind the tress. She stared at it for a moment, almost waiting for it to move but it didn't. After a few seconds she said, "Jay. Look." She lifted up her hand to point towards the shadow-creature.

"Hm?" Jay stood beside her, following her finger as his eyes landed on the shadow-creature. He blinked a few times before saying in a mere whisper, "It must be a Pokemon." He then turned to take out his Pokedex as he said, "Let me check."

Almost as if the creature had known, the moment he reached for its Pokedex it leapt away from them and ran away from the woods. It moved with strength and grace that she had never seen in a Pokemon before. Then, for one second, a flash of sunlight landed on its pelt and she could see a flash of gold and purple before it ran off deep into the cover of the shadows. As it disappeared, Jay and Ivy stayed in a state of shock as they stared at where the creature had gone.

Finally Jay said, "It must've been a rare Pokemon." He sighed once before adding, "If only I could've caught it."

"You? I was the one who spotted it first!"

"I think I should-oh forget it. This isn't the time to start argueing again!"

"Right," Ivy took a deep breath, forcing the memory of the gold and purple Pokemon to the back of her mind as she said, "Let's go." And they headed towards the rising smoke in the distance.

After a few minutes they finally reached the cabin. They crouched down below the window before stretching up to see inside. It was a very small log cabin with only one room and hardly any furniture from what they could see through one of the windows. All there was was the two crooks and then Charmander, sitting in the same cage in the middle of the floor. It kept banging against the bars of the cage, desperate to get out.

"Charmander…" she whispered.

"Will you stop that thing?" the woman cried inside. Now Ivy could see a clear picture of them both. The woman had long, blond hair and blue eyes with sharp, defined features, pale skin, and high cheekbones. She was stretched out on the floor, examining her nails and not looking once at Charmander or the man. Both the man and the woman, though, had black and white Team Rocket uniforms.

"I'm _trying_ but the stupid thing won't," the man complained as he sat beside Charmander's cave. The man had dark, black hair and black eyes. He also had tanner skin than his woman counter-part.

"What should we do?" Ivy asked as she crouched back down again.

"We need a distraction," Jay said, thinking for a moment. "And I think I know of a way to do it."

"What?"

"You let me worry about that," he argued, a smile creeping up on his face. "I'll distract them and you go in and get Charmander."

She hesitated, unsure of what Jay was going to do, but she knew she had to trust him. And she did. If there was anyone that she was going to rely on, it would be Jay. So she nodded and said, "Alright."

"Good luck," he said with a quick nod to her before running over to the front door. She heard him knock a few times and saw inside how the woman ordered the male to answer the door before hiding Charmander in the corner.

"Hi there," Jay said with a quick smile before Bulbasaur (who was standing right beside him) used its vines and slammed them against the male's legs.

"What the-!" the man cried as he slammed down on the ground. Ivy couldn't help but chuckle as she remembered how many times Bulbasaur had done the same to her. "Why you little brat!" the man then cried.

"What's going on?!" The woman demanded, running over, but soon enough Bulbasaur's vines came towards her and she hit the ground with a loud _thud!_

"See ya' later!" Jay cried with another grin before turning and running away with Bulbasaur at his side.

"Catch him!" the woman cried as she struggled to her feet and ran after Jay, the man soon following.

_That's my cue._

Right at that moment, Ivy stood up and ran around the cabin towards the still open door. She ran through the door way and into the room. Right as she did, she then heard a loud, "_Charr!_"

"Charmander!" She exclaimed, running over to her Pokemon with a sense of relief washing over her. She bent down towards the cage, her eyes brimming with happiness. "Are you okay?"

"Char!" It nodded enthusiastically, its eyes wide with joy.

"Okay, we need to get you out of here," she murmured, lifting up the lock and studying it. _Somehow…_

"Char, char," it then said, nodding to the wall. She looked up and over to what it was pointing at and saw a key hanging there.

"Well that was easy," she said with a smile, running over and grabbing the key. She then bent back down and put it in the lock, but when she tried to turn it, it wouldn't let her.

"It's the wrong key!" she hissed in realization. She yanked it out and threw it across the room, contemplating her next move. _What do I do now?_

"Ivy!" Jay's voice yelled out at her. She turned and saw him standing in the doorway with Bulbasaur, gasping for breath.

"Where are they?" she asked.

"I don't know," he shook his head and stumbled over to her. "I lost them a little while ago, but we have to hurry before they start suspecting anything!"

"Too late, kids."

At that voice, the two trainers turned, seeing the crooks standing there in the door way. The female waltzed over with the male following in suit.

"That was a really smart plan for some ten year olds," the woman continued. "First the distraction and then sneaking in here, trying to free your Pokemon." Then she lifted up her hand, a key dangling at the edge of her fingers. "Too late you didn't get what you were looking for."

"Now what should we do with them, Melony?" the man asked, again ignoring the fact that they were standing right in front of them.

"I don't know…" she swung the key in a circle off of her index finger as she slowly came towards them. "How do we punish children who have stepped out of bounds?"

"Filthy crooks," Jay hissed under his breath.

"Would you hear that, Gavin?" Melony said. "We're filthy crooks to them."

"Sorry, kids," Gavin said, his voice filled with mockery. "But that's our job."

"It's a bad one," Jay shot back.

"It is, what it is," Gavin shrugged before stepping closer to them. "Now why don't you just hand over the rest of your Pokemon and leave and no one will get hurt."

Before Jay could say anything, though, Ivy used a plan of her own. She ran towards Melony and slammed into her, knocking both of them down to the ground and causing Melony to let go of the key. It skidded across the ground in front of them, lying right next to the other wall. Melony let out a cry of anger as she pushed Ivy away from her and scrambled towards the key. Ivy, though, grabbed hold of Melony's ankle to keep her from going anywhere.

"I've got it!" Gavin cried as he ran over towards the key.

But before he could bend down to grab it, Ivy heard Jay cry out, "Bulbasaur, vine whip attack now!" Bulbasaur's vines then wrapped around Gavin and yanked him back, away from the key.

"Enough of this!" Melony then cried out. She reached for one of her pokeballs and yelled, "Go, Sandslash!"

"Go, Yanma!" Jay cried as he released his Yanma at the same time.

Ivy didn't waste a second. She scrambled quickly over to the key as the Team Rocket duo was temporarily distracted and grabbed it off the ground. She then got up off the ground and ran over to Charmander's cage, inserting the key and watching with great relief as she saw the lock pop open. She then yanked the cage door open and Charmander leapt forward into her arms.

"Oh thank god you're okay," she whispered, holding it tightly.

"Can you hold your reunion until later!?" Jay shouted at her. "Help me deal with these two clowns!" Currently Bulbasaur was still holding tight onto Gavin but it was clear that Jay's Yanma was having trouble dealing with the high leveled Sandshrew.

"Right," she stood up as Charmander took a place by her side. "Are you ready to end this, Charmander?"

"_Charr!_" It cried out, nodding enthusiastically.

"Alright," she then turned and pointed towards the ground, "Use an ember on the ground!"

"Are you crazy?!" Jay cried.

"Just trust me!" she told him as Charmander unleashed an ember attack towards the ground.

Almost immediately the flames rose in front of them, catching onto the wood that the house was made out of. Because of this, Bulbasaur had to retract its vines from Gavin, causing the Team Rocket agent to be freed.

"Oh forget this!" Melony cried. "Gavin, let's get out of here!"

They watched the two agents run out of the cabin before closing the door behind them.

"Come on!" Jay cried, running over to the door and grabbing the handle. He yanked it a few times before saying, "It's locked!"

"Are you serious?!" she gasped, glancing back at the growing flames as the area now started to become filled with smoke.

"Well this was your _brilliant_ plan!" he shot back at her.

"It got them away didn't they?!" She argued.

"And now it'll leave us and our Pokemon barbequed!"

"Whatever!" she shook her head. "We just need to get out of here!"

Jay looked around quickly before saying, "Bulbasaur, break the window with your vine whip and after you do that, get yourself, Yanma, and Charmander out of here!"

"_Bulba_," It nodded and let its vines slam against the glass, breaking it easily.

Quickly enough, Yanma flew out of the window and into the fresh air. Bulbasaur and Charmander hesitated but after a reassuring nod from their trainers, they scrambled out the window (Bulbasaur needing a bit of assistance since it couldn't make the jump). Then right as the flames were starting to reach the ceiling and were creeping closer and closer towards them, the two trainers made their way out of the window, falling down onto the hard earth.

"Come on, we need to get away from here," Jay gasped as he helped Ivy to her feet and they scrambled after their Pokemon who were fleeing into the woods.

She couldn't tell how long they ran for, but she knew it was at least five minutes until they collapsed from exhaustion. Their Pokemon came to a halt, hurriedly going back to them to make sure they were okay. She could feel Charmander nudge her gently and she looked up, giving Charmander a reassuring smile.

"You okay?" she whispered.

It gave her a nod, silently giving her the same question.

"I'm fine," she patted its head gently before looking over at Jay. "Are you okay?"

"Just barely," he looked back at her and continued, "That was the craziest moment I've ever had in my life."

Ivy laughed and said, "Yeah. It was for me too."

"Well," Jay slowly sat up, staring out at the sun. "I suggest we rest for the day and then tomorrow we'll-"

"Head off to Vermillion City," Ivy finished his sentence, nodding as she sat up also.

They were silent for a few moments until finally Ivy said, "Jay…I just want to say thank you."

He shrugged, staring down at his hands as he said, "It was nothing."

She was quiet, studying his expression carefully before saying four final words that would finally bring an end to such a hectic day.

"If you say so."

…

**A/N: That was a very long chapter, but hopefully it stayed interesting! The title of it is based off of the Coldplay song, "Fix You" which I thought really captured the feelings of this chapter and the previous few. I got the idea for using the song as a theme of this chapter from one of my favorite shows called The Newsroom.**

**Well, anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter! I'm going to try and post one every week since school has started up again. I might try posting them on Friday nights or Saturday afternoons. It depends. So wait for the next chapter, I promise you it will be good!**


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